DESIRABLE CITIZEN 




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DESIRABLE CITIZEN 



ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN 

LAW, GOVERNMENT 

AND CITIZENSHIP 



JAMES M. GREENWOOD, A.M., LL.D. 

SUPERINTENDENT CITY SCHOOLS 
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI 




CHICAGO 
O. F>. BARNES, PUBLISHER 



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COPYRIGHT, 1912 
By O. P. BARNES 



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gCI.A305943 

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THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

THE Desirable Citizen studies the work- 
ings of his government in the community, 
in the State, and in the nation at large, and 
does his part in the election of proper men to 
office. He belongs to that party whose princi- 
ples most nearly express his own views, but 
he does not hesitate to give his support to a 
better man on another ticket when no impor- 
tant issue is endangered by so doing. He 
loves his country with the knowledge that 
for him it is the best land on earth; but 
above all, and beyond all, he has an abiding 
faith in its integrity and in its future. As a 
neighbor he is charitable in his dealings and 
judgments, with a sympathy that gives aid to 
the needy and unfortunate without ostenta- 
tation or hope of reward. In whatever land 
he calls home he represents the best product 
of its institutions and thought — a gentleman 
upright and unafraid. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction 11 

(Suggestive Questions) 

I. Kinds of Government 15 

The Family — Five Important Institutions — The Teacher 
— School Government — The Child's View Enlarges. 
(Suggestive Questions) 

II. A Study of the Township 24 

Units — A Sketch of the Township — Local Affairs of the 
Township — Citizens of the Township — Officers of the 
Township and Their Duties — Justices of the Peace — 
Township Board — A Model — Oath of Office. (Sug- 
gestive Questions) 

III. ~ County Organization 34 

Meaning of the Word County — Not a Corporation — 
How a County is Formed — County Officer Defined — 
County Judges — The Sheriff — County Treasurer — 
County Attorney — Circuit Clerk — Recorder of Deeds — 
Public Administrator — County Surveyor — The Coro- 
ner — Salaries of County Officers. (Suggestive Questions) 

IV. Cities, Towns, and Villages 42 

How Distinguished — Powers — Officers — Mayor — Coun- 
cil — Counselor — Treasurer — Assessor — Collector — 
Chief of Police — City Governments — Revenue — 
Judicial Department — Board of Public Works — Depart- 
ment of Fire and Water — Health Department — Depart- 
ment of Education — New York City. (Suggestive Ques- 
tions) 

V. State Governments — Executive and Legislative 

Departments 50 

Uniformity of Plan — New States — Units Composing a 
State — State Officers — The Governor — Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor — Secretary of State — Other State Officers — Quali- 
fications — State Legislature — Work of Committees — 
An Election — Office-Holders — Getting Candidates — 
County Officers — The Campaign — Election Day. (Sug- 
gestive Questions) 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

VI. State] Governments — The Judicial Department ... 61 

State Courts — Kinds of Laws — Common Law — Stat- 
utes — Criminal Law — Judges — Judicial Circuits — The 
Grand Jury — The Appeal — Criminal Courts — Appellate 
Courts — Supreme Courts. (Suggestive Questions) 

VII. Government of the United States 68 

The Constitution — The Preamble — Legislative Depart- 
ment — Adjournment of Congress — Terms of Office and 
Compensation — Organization of Congress — The Senate 

— Business in the Senate — General Orders — Senate 
Committee — Standing Rules — The House in Session — 
Committees of the House — Committees at Work — How 
Committees are Organized — Committee of the Whole. 
(Suggestive Questions) 

VIII. The Executive Department 81 

Power Vested in a President — The Popular Vote — Duties 
of the President — Presidential Advisers — Department of 
State — Department of the Treasury — Beset with Callers 

— Office-Seekers — Appointments are Usually Good — A 
Host of Appointees. (Suggestive Questions) 

IX. Checks and Balances 90 

Passing Laws — President Must Approve — Purpose of the 
Veto — Revenue — Scope of Congressional Legislation — 
Things Congress May Do — Things Congress May Not 
Do — Some Things a State May Not Do. (Suggestive 
Questions) 

X. The Judiciary 98 

The Judicial Power — An Independent Department — No 
Appeal from the Supreme Court — The Organization of 
These Courts — Court of Appeals — Circuit Courts — 
Court of Claims — Salaries of the Judges. (Suggestive 
Questions) 

XL Rights and Duties of Citizens 103 

Individual Rights — Natural Rights — Importance of Nat- 
ural Rights — Property Rights — Wliat is Property — Per- 
sonal Property Defined — Title to Real Property — From 
Wliom Title is Acquired — Differently Stated — Confusion 
of Title in Early Days — Need of a More Definite System — 
Patent and Deed Distinguished — Highest Form of Title — 
Other Estates — Deeds and Mortgages — Personal Prop- 
erty — Definition Re-stated — How Acquired — A Fur- 
ther Distinction — The Primitive Mode — The Acquisi- 
tion of Property by Descent — Kinds of Relationship — 
Wills — Must Conform to Law — When No Will is Made — 
Property in Different States. (Suggestive Questions) 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XII. Agreements and Contracts 117 

Contracts Denned — Necessary Conditions — Parties to a 
Contract — Of Sound Mind — Who May Not Make Con- 
tracts — A Mutual Agreement — An Imaginary Case — 
What Constitutes Execution — Two Kinds of Considera- 
tion — An Illustration — What is Fraud — The Statute of 
Frauds. (Suggestive Questions) 

XIII. Contracts for the Sale or Exchange of Personal 
Property 124 

Sale, Exchange, Trade — When is Delivery Complete — A 
Case in Point — Contracts for the Sale of Real Property — 
What It Embraces — History of Our Present System — 
Description of Land — Usefulness of an Abstract — The 
Legal Description of a Deed — A Deed — Bills of Exchange 

— Are Instruments of Convenience — Protest Necessary — 
Promissory Notes — Definition and Parties — Checks — 
Contracts of Bailment — Common Carriers — A Fruitful 
Source of Litigation — Hotel Keepers. (Suggestive Ques- 
tions) 

XIV. Other Contracts 138 

Marriage is a Civil Contract — A Fuller Discussion — Re- 
sponsibility in Criminal Cases — Parent and Child — 
Master and Servant — Principal and Agent — Special 
Agents — How Agencies are Terminated — Contracts of 
Partnership — Who are Partners — A Silent Partner — 
A Nominal Partner — The Principle Illustrated — Termi- 
nating a Partnership. (Suggestive Questions) 

XV. Trials at Law 149 

Are Necessary — A Brief Summary — Pleadings — Hear 
Both Sides — Successive Stages — The Rule of Law — 
Pleas in Abatement — The Jury — What Constitutes Evi- 
dence — Testimony of the Witness — The Usual Custom — 
Credibility of the Witness — Depositions — The Argument, 
Instructions, and Verdict — The Judgment — Do Not Go to 
Law. (Suggestive Questions) 

XVI. Criminal Law 161 

A Crime Defined — A Distinction — Accessories — Homi- 
cide — Arson — Burglary — Larceny — Robbery — Libel 
and Slander — Perjury — Forgery — Breaches of the Peace 

— We Punish the Mind, Not the Body — Moot Court Cases. 

Constitution of the United States 171 

Index '. 189 

State Supplement 191 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Undesirable Citizens Frontispiece l> 

Excluded gypsies being returned to their homes in Europe. 

The Congressional Library at Washington 14 is 

Architects pronounce this the handsomest library building 
in the world 

Michigan Boulevard, Chicago 30 \/ 

A good example of civic improvement and beauty. 

Newly Arrived Immigrants 46 \s~ 

In your opinion, will these become desirable citizens? 

A Class in Manual Training 62 * 

The ideal of modern education is to fit both hand and brain 
for the greatest usefulness in life. 

An Irrigation Dam, Arizona 78^ 

The government is spending millions of dollars in develop- 
ing the arid lands of the west, that they may be occupied 
by contented and prosperous communities. 

"Am I My Brother's Keeper?" 94 y 

This picture represents the homeless poor at night, on the 
Thames embankment, London. The original was painted 
by J. C. Dollman, and recently presented to the City of New 
York, It is meant to emphasize the need of industrial 
vocational education for Americans, so that the sad social 
and industrial conditions prevalent in England may never 
exist in the United States. 

City and County Building, Salt Lake no*" 

This building well illustrates the advantages of combined 
effort on the part of different civic bodies. 

Repairing a Levee on the Mississippi River. . . . 126 v 

Illustrating one manner in which the state protects the 
community. 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Seeking a New Home 142 v 

The "Prairie Schooner" and the sod school house have 
almost disappered from our national life. 

A Frontier School House 158 

This photograph of a school in the Middle West, was taken 
only twelve years ago. 

Top-Lighted Class Room 174 v 

A method of building designed to relieve the strain on the 
children's eyes. 

A Trio of University Debaters 191 

Debating is a fine preparation for public speaking later in 
life. 

A School Garden, Kirksville, Missouri 206 

Would not pupils find greater pleasure and profit in corre- 
sponding with others in distant schools relative to plans and 
methods of school-gardening, than in exchanging postal 
cards? 

c \ Model Rural School House 222 

From plans prepared under the direction of the State, 
Department of Education, Topeka, Kansas. 

The Country Boy and His City Cousins 238 

In the Middle West the"country children about equal in num- 
ber the children of all organized municipalities, cities, towns 
and villages, combined. Yet their education costs the public 
only one-tenth as much as is expended for the same purpose 
on their city cousins. 



INTRODUCTORY 

Whenever a game of any kind is played, either by the 
children of civilized or savage people, certain rules that the 
players themselves or others have made govern the players 
and are called the ''Lavs of the Game." In playing ball, 
marbles, jacks, plugging tops, jumping, or running foot 
races, there are governing laws to which each one must 
submit. In playing games of cards, in spelling and read- 
ing contests, or in playing chess and checkers, which are 
silent games, — in fact, in all games, there are rules which all 
who participate must obey, or forfeit the right to play. Now, 
what is true of the actions of children in their sports and 
games, has a much wider significance when it is applied to a 
large body of people collectively, whether it be a clan, tribe, 
state or nation. Because man is social in his nature, gov- 
ernments are established and maintained on the theory 
that people reach a higher degree of excellence and effi- 
ciency under a good form of government than under a bad 
form of government. It should, however, be said that a 
mild and just form of government is necessary to enforce 
rights, duties, responsibilities and obligations, and to pro- 
tect the weak and innocent from the exactions of the 
selfish and powerful. 

The word govern is derived from the Latin verb 
gubcrnare, to steer a ship, and this meaning has been trans- 
ferred and enlarged so as to include the direction, manage- 
ment and control of states and nations. From the Latin 
word gubcrnare, we have gubernatorial, govern, governor, 
and government, which are words in common use. The pop- 
ular meaning of the word government is that of the controll- 

11 



12 INTRODUCTORY 

ing power in a nation, yet the term may be, and very often is, 
restricted to a much narrower use, as when one speaks of 
the government of a family, a school, a town, county, city or 
state. 

The word civil is derived from the Latin word civis, a 
citizen. A citizen is a person who owes to the government 
allegiance, service and money by way of taxes, and to whom 
the government grants and guarantees liberty of person and 
of conscience, the right to acquire, to hold, and to transfer 
property, and also the security of person, property and repu- 
tation. A citizen is one who enjoys, or may enjoy, all civil 
rights. 

Therefore, " Civil Government" may be defined as the 
regularly constituted legal authority operative within a 
state or nation. From this it will be seen that Civil Gov- 
ernment treats of persons living in civilized society, of prop- 
erty, duties, obligations and of rights. To determine what 
people may do, or refrain from doing, places them at once 
under law. Laws are made to govern the actions of men, 
women, and children — of children when they have reached 
the age of accountability. In so far as the actions of per- 
sons are concerned, as viewed legally, the law discriminates 
between what is the ' ' declaratory part, ' ' which defines the 
rights to be observed and the wrongs to be avoided, and the 
"directory part," which enjoins the observance of the right 
and the abstaining from the wrong ; the ' 4 remedial part, 
which is a method of recovering a right or redressing a 
wrong, and the "vindicatory part," which prescribes a 
remedy for a transgression. Laws are enacted for the pur- 
pose of controlling the actions of man. It would be beyond 
the scope of the present work to enumerate the different 
kinds of laws necessary in our complex civilization, not to 
mention the laws of nature, or of the mind in its various 
kinds of activity. 



INTRODUCTORY 13 

Man, wherever he may be, is a subject of law. The forces 
of nature always act upon him and he reacts against them. 
His surroundings constitute his environment, and whatever 
traits of character he has inherited from his ancestors, con- 
stitute his original tendencies or his hereditary influences. 
A child, therefore, is born into a world governed by physical 
laws, by statutory enactments, and by the practices or cus- 
toms of the people where his parents reside. All these influ- 
ences are governmental. The different kinds of government 
under which we live are the Home, the School, County, 
State, and Nation. To these there are other incidental gov- 
ernmental forms under which one may, or may not, live, 
to wit, city, town, or village government ; church govern- 
ment ; fraternal governments of various kinds. But in our 
country, broadly speaking, each citizen constantly lives 
under at least five recognized forms of government. From 
the preceding statements it is possible for a person to live 
under several different kinds of government at the same 
time, and yet they may be so regulated that no one seri- 
ously interferes with the others. Some of these, it is true, 
may be only temporary, as that of the school, or of the 
different fraternal and social organizations. A good citizen 
is one who obeys the laws under which he lives and performs 
all the duties, both public and private, resting upon him. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Why are governments necessary? Explain the difference be- 
tween a right, a duty, and an obligation. From what Latin word 
is governor derived? What is meant by the right to acquire, to 
hold, and to transfer property? What is civil government? Why 
are laws made? What is the meaning of man's being a subject 
of law? Explain the difference between environment and hered- 
ity. What is the difference between a physical law, a statutory 
law, and a custom? What does the word " suggestive " mean? 
What is the root word in it? What the prefix? What the suffix! 



CHAPTER I 

KINDS OF GOVERNMENTS 

Governments have been classified by writers from the 
earliest times, according to where the source of power resides. 
Some nations not far advanced in civilization have an abso- 
lute monarch at the head of affairs. Such a government is 
a despotism ; others again, are governed by a king, queen, 
emperor, or czar, such governments being called a monarchy, 
while others, like the United States, France, Switzerland 
and Mexico, have a chief executive known as the president, 
and are classed as Republics. But it must not be inferred 
that because people live in a Republic that, by virtue of this 
fact, they always are a freer people than those living under a 
constitutional monarchy. 

In Republics the supreme source of power is vested in 
the people collectively, and every citizen who votes has a 
voice in selecting candidates for office, and in this act he 
exercises the attributes of a sovereign, which is one of 
the highest privileges of citizenship. 

THE FAMILY 

Obviously the first and simplest form of government is 
that of the Family. The word is from the Latin, familia, 
which includes the household, not excepting the servants. 
In its modern comprehensive use it is applied to all the per- 
sons living together in one house and under the same head or 
management ; but in its more limited sense, it signifies the 
father, the mother and the children. No specific number of 
persons is required to constitute a family, or that they should 

15 



16 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

eat at the house, or that they be employed in or about the 
house. The husband is legally regarded as the head of the 
family, and is the person who controls, supervises, or man- 
ages the affairs of the house. 

Parents are in duty bound to govern their children. All 
rational beings are subject to governmental control, and it 
is in the home that the child should first learn those habits 
of obedience which are subsequently to be exercised with 
reference to the community and to the nation. The parents 
may give their child all the advantages that wealth, learning, 
travel, and good society can bestow, but if he has not been 
taught obedience and self-control, they will probably live to 
see their fondest hopes blasted and their child become a 
reproach and a shame to their name. But parental govern- 
ment should be reasonable and intelligently administered. 
It should never be one of blind impulse or furious passion, 
but it should be even, mild, and firm. It should always take 
into consideration the welfare of the child in general rather 
than his whims and caprice. When prohibition is necessary 
it should prohibit, and grant indulgence only when it is safe. 
To govern well, the peculiarities of the child should be con- 
sidered and the hidden springs of his nature touched so as 
to secure responsive action that terminates in prompt and 
cheerful obedience. 

Home government ought to be steady and uniform. The 
parent who can not govern himself will fail in parental con- 
trol. Severity one day and undue laxity the next, punish- 
ing and caressing alternately, fail to secure either respect 
or obedience. Filial obedience should be secured and 
maintained. 

The family is an institution peculiar, distinct, and com- 
plete within itself, having its own laws, rules, regulations, 
rights, duties and responsibilities. It is peculiarly a fit- 
ting station for other objects and other institutions to which 



KINDS OF GOVERNMENT 17 

it is very closely connected. One of the chief ends for 
which it exists in a civilized community is the training and 
preparation for the duties that the child will eventually 
perform in respect to himself, to society, to the state and to 
the Creator. As has been previously stated, duties are 
reciprocal. The parent is responsible for the maintenance 
and education of his child, and later the child owes duties 
to its parents. It is the plain duty of the parent to provide 
for the physical wants of his offspring and to educate them, 
child is helpless, inexperienced, and needs the care and 
protection of its parents. Deprived of this care and pro- 
tection of its parents. Deprived of this care and protec- 
tection it must inevitably perish, unless the law interferes 
and appoints a guardian, or some kind person comes in and 
adopts it. Xo outsider naturally can discharge this trust 
with the same parental feelings as the father and mother 
ought to have for their own children, and this trust ought 
not to pass over to another except in case of death, or dis- 
ability to discharge this sacred duty. The manner in 
which this duty should be performed depends upon the cir- 
sumstances and condition in life of the parents during the 
minority of the child. In the eye of the law the parent has 
done his duty when he has made the best possible provision 
for his child that his ability and circumstances will permit. 
It is his duty to instill into the mind of his offspring such 
simple habits of frugality, industry, honesty, self-reliance, 
truthfulness, and purity of mind and body as will cause 
the child to become an honor to his parents and a useful, 
independent, self-supporting citizen. 

Some writers have compared the family circle to a minia- 
ture state, and from this comparison it has been argued 
that the state expects the family to do its duty. Govern- 
ments have generally entrusted to parents the administra- 
tion of their home affairs and are very reluctant to inter- 



18 THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

fere with home rule, except in cases of gross abuse or neglect 
of parents to provide for the child's nurture and training. 
Parents are supposed to have some knowledge of the laws 
of nature and of the dangers to which a child may be 
exposed, and of which the child may be profoundly igno- 
rant, owing to its limited experience. The parents should 
teach the child lessons that may be learned through experi- 
ence, but are not transmitted from parent to child. The 
parents must watch over the health of the child, and guard 
it from disease and moral contamination. His sleep, games, 
diet, clothing, and hours of study must all be supervised, in 
order that his body and mind may develop symmetrically 
and harmoniously. Parental government is for the benefit 
of the child, — not for the gain of the parent. Whatever 
the parent does for the child ought to be done wisely and 
well, and it should be done at the right time and in the 
right way. Parents ought to teach their children to know 
the right and to cheerfully do the right. The authority 
exercised by the parent should vary, owing to the needs 
and the age of the child. What would be suitable for a 
child of six or ten, might be entirely wrong for one of fif- 
teen or eighteen. As independent thought and personal 
responsibility are involved, the parental authority should 
be relaxed to fit the conditions as the child grows in knowl- 
edge and wisdom. The object is to fit the child for self- 
government under law, and this aim should be set before 
the child as it approaches maturity. It is in the home, 
too, that the parents take cognizance of the caprice of the 
child and endeavor to fashion its actions in accordance with 
the law of the state. Where parental government is not 
enforced, or is lax, or uneven, and the lessons of obedience 
and self-control are not learned, submission to legally con- 
stituted authority is spurned, and the child goes forth 



KINDS OF GOVERNMENT 



19 



into society as an unregulated, erratic citizen, a menace 
to the state and an enemy to himself. 

FIVE IMPORTANT INSTITUTIONS 

There are five distinct institutions that lie at the founda- 
tion of the civilization we have reached, namely, the home, 
the church, the school, the society in which one lives, and 
the state or nation. 

The school is an institution, organized and maintained at 
public expense, for the protection of the citizens of the 
state and to perpetuate the state and its institutions. The 
public school is a gradual development from the original 
or parish school. The modern state undertook the educa- 
tion of its youth because the church and private bene- 
factions could not educate all the children and fit them 
for intelligent citizenship. Schools are organized on a 
broader base than is the home and for more specific pur- 
poses. School government differs in many respects from 
home government, and yet they have many features in com- 
mon, as a little reflection will show. 

In the states and territories of our country each state 
and territory enacts its own school laws through its legis- 
lature. Of course where there is not a law-making power, 
the government (as with the Indian tribes and in Alaska), 
administers the educational affairs. But in general there is 
no national system of education in the United States. By 
statute or special act of the legislature, each state adminis- 
ters its local school affairs through local boards or school 
committees, whose duties are defined by law. These local 
boards, by the authority invested in them, make all needful 
rules and regulations governing their school district. They 
are usually elected by the people in the district to carry 
forward the school interests of their community. In a 
sense, they constitute a legislative body, prescribing what 



20 THE DESIBABLE CITIZEN 

is to be done and prohibiting what ought not to be done. 
The duties of boards of education in cities, towns and 
villages, can be learned by an examination of the general 
school laws, special acts and charters, under which each 
board exercises its functions. 

The Teacher. The teacher occupies a unique position 
as the preserver of the conduct of each pupil on his way to 
or from the school, and while in the school house or on or 
about the school premises. The courts have usually held 
that the teacher's authority extends over the pupil from 
the time he leaves home till he returns home. On his way to 
or from school he is as much under the teacher's authority 
as if he were in the school house during school hours. The 
teacher is regarded as being in the place of the parent while 
the pupil is absent from the parental roof. In the state of 
Massachusetts one of the courts held that the bad conduct 
of two pupils on Saturday, when the school was not in 
session, was detrimental to the state and that the teacher 
was justified in whipping the boys on the following 
Monday. 

School Government. School government may be defined 
in its practical application, as the art of so directing the 
affairs of a school as to maintain a systematic method of 
instruction, and to induce orderly conduct and efficiency 
in studies, and to lead the pupils into habits of self-con- 
trol and self-directed work. It is the wise adjustment of 
the learner to the educational forces and instrumentalities 
which act upon him and to which he reacts in response. 
The chief function of the teacher is to stimulate the pupils 
to self -exertion, self-assertion, under law, and into habits 
of self-knowledge and self-confidence. All true government 
comes from within. It is not the overpowering pressure 
from an external force organized as the state that compels 
obedience, but the feeling within that prompts to right 



KINDS OF GOVEENMENT 21 

action. School government, as a formative power, operates 
under the most favorable conditions when the home and 
school authorities work together. If the home influences 
are exerted against the teacher, and the Board of Educa- 
tion, the school is helpless to aid the child. The home is 
the child's social center during the infantile period, but the 
school widens the child's experience when he begins to form 
associations beyond the family circle. In the school he is 
ushered into another world in which he is only one actor 
among others. Others have claims equal to his own, and he 
soon learns, or ought to learn, to depend on himself if he 
takes equal rank with others in their studies and games. 
The school should level artificial distinctions by teaching 
each one the nobility of honest effort. It is in the school 
that the child as a participator comes in contact w4th the 
state as an institution which he yet but dimly realizes, even 
when his attention is called to the fact. He hears some- 
thing about the teacher's authority, and less of the power 
of the board. 

The Child's View Enlarges. To clear the learner's ideas, 
the teacher and parents, either or both, may drop a sentence 
every now and then, telling how schools are organized in a 
state, sites purchased, houses built and furnished, books 
and apparatus supplied, teachers employed, fuel and water 
supplied, taxes levied and collected each year, and state, 
county and township funds apportioned, in order to con- 
duct a school. The matter is brought directly home to the 
pupil when he learns that his parents have to pay their part 
of the school tax for his education, and that he has as much 
right as any other child in the state to attend the public 
school. Here, too, he may learn the lesson that a govern- 
ment founded on majority action must depend upon an 
intelligent and virtuous citizenship, and that he, in tim*e, 



22 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

will become one of the independent political units. Thus, 
as he grows in knowledge, the child's horizon enlarges from 
that of the home, to the school, the township, county, state 
and nation. 

The child in attendance at school is expected to obey all 
needful rules and regulations, to prepare his lessons 
promptly and neatly as his teacher may direct, and to be 
pure and chaste in speech and conduct.; to be polite and 
kind to his teacher, to the pupils attending school, and to 
persons that he meets in going to or in returning from 
school. It is incumbent on the teacher to teach morality 
in school as much as it is to teach language, geography or 
arithmetic, and it is probably best taught by example and 
incidentally. Conduct has reference to behavior in general 
as opposed to misbehavior. Of recent years business men 
generally ask, when a boy or a young man applies for a 
position, for testimonials as to his class-standing and be- 
havior in school. Particularly is this true in towns and 
cities. Good conduct in school may be very far-reaching in 
one's life work. Government is designed to teach and con- 
solidate in one's character those habits of industry, hon- 
esty, truthfulness, neatness, correctness, and faithfulness, 
that set the upright and reliable man off from the untrust- 
worthy one. The pupil should keep in mind that the gov- 
ernment of a school is a part of the school work, a part of 
the school itself. The school is an institution as much so as 
the state, though in a modified form, and inasmuch as the 
pupil must live an institutional life, he is, through the 
medium of the school, fitting himself to become a partici- 
pator in that fuller sphere of activity which is opening for 
him. It is the feeling of responsibility that makes the pupil 
consider his own actions, and this is the foundation of self- 
control. 



KINDS OF GOVERNMENT 23 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

What is family government, and what does it include? What is 
the difference between a child and the hired man or woman? 
How should they be treated? Give three reasons why parents are 
bound to govern their children. What are habits? What is the 
difference between obedience and self-control? How would you 
define li Blind Impulse M ? Give two reasons why home govern- 
ment should be steady and uniform. Does your mind work evenly 
or in a jerky manner? How should it work? Should a child ever 
be taken away from its parents? Give three reasons for the 
separation. By what signs would you say that a boy or girl 
should govern himself or herself? What do you understand by 
the expression "he has the big head"? How distinguish between 
a despotism, a monarchy, a limited monarchy, a republic, anarchy? 
Where does the supreme power in our country reside? What is 
the difference between a candidate and an officer? Give the 
derivation of the words " heredity " and " environment. ' ? 

How are public schools maintained? If the board of education 
does not make the rules of the school, who should make them? 
Give two reasons for your answer. If two boys engage in a fight 
at school, and a jury of six pupils, after hearing all the evidence, 
decides both ought to be whipped, say, six good strokes each 
by the principal, ought the parents of the disobedient boys 
object to the punishment? Why? When a mother comes to 
the school arid tells the teacher that "Johnie" is a very 
peculiar boy, and it will not do for the teacher or pupils to cross 
him, what do you think is the matter with Johnie? If you 
were his teacher or his mother, what would you do to Johnie? 
If a schoolhouse burns, how is a new one built, and how is it paid 
for? Has a boy a right to break in a schoolhouse door to get 
his books that are left in his desk? How large a site should a 
country district school have? How should the grounds be taken 
care of? What part would you plant in trees? in flowers? in grain 
and grasses? How much would you leave for playgrounds for the 
girls and the boys? What books ought to be in the school library? 



CHAPTER II 

A STUDY OP THE TOWNSHIP 

The pupil in school has learned from hearing his parents 
and neighbors talk, if not otherwise, that they are inter- 
ested in school, town, tow r nship, county, state and national 
affairs. He hears men and measures discussed, policies 
recommended, and some condemned. About him, if he lives 
in the country, he sees some officials, such as members of the 
board of education, constables, justices of the peace, often 
called "Esquires," township trustees, and occasionally 
some of the higher county officials. During the excitement 
of political campaigns, he hears very much said about the 
election of congressmen, candidates for governor, and for 
president of the United States. But he comes in contact 
most directly with the man who delivers the mail, and he 
learns not to meddle with the mail boxes. Should he live in 
a town or city, the officials that he knows most about are 
policemen, and these are the ones that he usually watches 
most closely whenever he is engaged in mischief. He soon 
recognizes some men as public officials and others that are 
called citizens, and he associates authority with those that 
stand for the power and dignity of the state. 

In the school he learned the lesson of submission, and 
that he had to adjust himself to a group of others who were 
also attending school. This process of adjustment is not 
completed in school, because life is a continual adjustment 
to new conditions daily. An orderly world confronts him 

24 



A STUDY OF THE TOWNSHIP 25 

on every side, in which people go about their business with 
regularity. The power of self-regulation that he learned 
and observed in school is carried over into that larger 
sphere in which the community lives and works. This con- 
tinual adjustment fits him for citizenship. 

Units — A Sketch. Institutions begin to find a place in 
his- thinking : the school district is a unit of that larger dis- 
trict, the township, which may contain several school dis- 
tricts, and the township is a unit of a larger type, several 
of which constitute the county, and again the county is a 
type of another set of units forming the state. In the 
county may be cities, towns and villages, each governed by 
laws which may agree in some respects and differ in others. 
At first it is rather confusing for a beginner to understand 
how the management of these different units can be carried 
on and not interfere with one another. He becomes aware 
that he lives in a world of reality, in which manners and 
customs are pretty well fixed, and they appear to have 
been in their present condition for a long time. It is the 
object of the present work to explain how some of these 
things have come to be as they are. Just here let us remem- 
ber that all the governments of the earth have some plan of 
administration to reach all the people through its officials 
who keep in operation the business of the nation, state, 
county, school district, and municipality, if there be one. 
Civilized states or nations have in operation the best and 
most effective agencies for preserving order, protecting per- 
sons and property, levying and collecting taxes and dis- 
bursing the same, consistent with the greatest amount of 
liberty under law for each individual citizen. In ancient 
times the state was not organized and its affairs adminis- 
tered as is done at the present. Only a few hundred years 
ago in Europe there were no states as there are to-day. 



26 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

The people paid the taxes assessed, and the state troubled 
itself little beyond that. 

SKETCH OF THE TOWNSHIP 

Each nation of Europe generally divided its territory 
into small political divisions corresponding to the Town- 
ship in the United States. If one takes a good map of one 
of the states of the United States, he will see that it is 
divided into counties, except in Louisiana, where these sub- 
divisions are called parishes. The counties are divided into 
smaller subdivisions called Townships, or Towns. It is 
interesting to learn how we came to have the words 
"Town" and "Township," since these are undoubtedly 
the oldest forms of government under which we live. 
"Town" is from the Anglo-Saxon "tun," or "toon," an 
inclosure, a garden inclosed by a hedge, or a collection of 
houses inclosed by a wall. "Township" is derived from 
"tunscipe," signifying the village and the country sur- 
rounding the village or town. In New England the first 
local civil governments were the towns, antedating the 
counties, and from which the counties were formed ; but in 
the newer states, when an organic law is first enacted for 
the government of the whole territory, and a constitution is 
framed and legally adopted, the counties precede the organ- 
ization of the townships. The word township in the United 
States is used in two different ways, in one as a political 
unit, and in the other it has reference to the method of 
dividing the public lands under the rectangular system of 
surveying, established by the government in 1796, dividing 
the territory surveyed into townships six miles square, and 
these into sections one mile square. 

In New England and in New York, towns are the polit- 
ical units of territory into which each state is divided, and 
correspond politically to the parishes and hundreds in Eng- 



A STUDY OF THE TOWNSHIP o; 

land, but are invested with greater local powers of self- 
government. In Delaware the counties are divided into 
hundreds. In some of the states these small units are 
called the Election Precincts; in Georgia, the Militia Dis- 
trict; in Louisiana, the Police Jury Ward; in Maryland 
and Wyoming, the Election District ; in Tennessee, the 
Civil District: in Texas, the Justice's Precinct: and in 
Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa. Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, 
Missouri. Montana. Xew Jersey, the Carolinas, Ohio. 
Pennsylvania. Nebraska, and the Dakotas. they are called 
the Township. 

Local Affairs of the Township 

Under our form of Government each state manages its 
local affairs in its own way, without interference from the 
general government. There is no uniformity in the judi- 
cial system of the different states of the United States. 
Each state, through its legislature, enacts its own laws per- 
taining to schools, the organization of school districts, the 
names and the size of the counties, but the people of each 
county, through their county judges, township trustees, or 
other officials, divide the counties into municipal townships, 
and at special or general elections elect such township and 
county officials as are designated by law to conduct the 
business of the township or county. These officers are 
usually justices of the peace, constables, assessors, col- 
lectors of taxes, road overseers, township clerks, and such 
other officers as the statutes prescribe. In theory, gov- 
ernment is designed to protect the person and property of 
everyone, and those small civil divisions are intended to 
bring justice within easy reach of the humblest citizen, 
as well as of the most influential. Through the instru- 
mentality of the township justice of the peace and the 
constable, both being civil officers, criminals can be the 



28 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

more readily apprehended and tried, at least so far as to 
establish the fact of their probable guilt or innocence; 
also civil suits in which the value does not exceed a cer- 
tain amount, may be tried in Justices' Courts, and these 
petty courts, which are not usually courts of record, 
relieve the higher courts of many trivial cases that would 
otherwise come before them. Usually each township has 
one or more voting places in it, most frequently at the 
school house or in some building in the village or town, 
if there be one in the township. 

The duties of the township officers are executive and 
judicial. School boards, however, can make all needful 
rules and regulations for the government of the pupils who 
attend school, and in a sense they legislate. But the general 
duties otherwise performed are executive and judicial, as 
has been stated. 

The Citizens of the Township 

The citizens are the persons living in the township, and 
it includes all of them. They constitute the township. 
After the township is legally organized they elect the 
officers, yet in some of the states, some of the officers 
are appointed by the county court, particularly road 
overseers, and in case of a vacancy in other offices, 
these are filled in like manner till the next general elec- 
tion. All matters of detail are provided for by statute 
in each state. Each citizen is interested in the selection of 
good local officers, in feeling that his person and property 
are secure, and that he is really sure of enjoying the fruits 
of his own labors, and when he has been away from home 
and returns that his family and his effects shall be in as 
good a condition as when he left them. Where a breach 
of the peace is committed, every citizen feels that the 
dignity of the community has been outraged, and that he 



A STUDY OF THE TOWNSHIP 29 

is interested in having the offender brought to a speedy 
trial. Lawlessness will bring any community into bad 
repute, and the self-respecting citizens will use their influ- 
ence severally and collectively to keep the reputation of 
their community above reproach. 

Each state prescribes the qualification of voters, and the 
right to vote carries with it the corresponding duty to 
vote; that is, to participate in the affairs of the state 
and of the nation. The privilege of voting is conferred as 
a method of safety to the individual and the nation. Of 
late years much complaint has arisen among certain 
classes of citizens that a large number of good citizens 
abstain from taking any part in the selection of candi- 
dates for the various offices, and from voting at the elec- 
tions, and they believe that some kind of a penalty should 
be imposed on such citizens for their non-participation 
in public affairs. To vote is the expression of the 
will of the voter, whether the act is by ballot or by 
the voice. A voter is an elector who votes — an elector in 
the exercise of this privilege. The qualifications for vot- 
ing are not uniform in all the states, but they are similar 
and are usually the following: Citizenship by birth or 
naturalization, residence in the state and voting precinct* 
for a given period, registration, twenty-one years of age. 
freedom from infamy, etc. Some states have passed laws 
allowing women to vote, and there appears to be a grow- 
ing sentiment in this direction in many states. 

Officers of the Township and Their Duties 

It is necessary to give a fuller account of the Township 
Officers and their duties than was sketched in the pre- 
ceding chapter. In the rural communities these officials 
come more closely in contact with the people than any 
other class of county officials. The municipal township 



30 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

is not necessarily of the same area as the congressional 
township, a subdivision six miles square established by 
the government surveyors. The townships of a county 
are given names. Township organization offers the 
simplest method of levying, collecting, and disbursing 
local taxes. 

These officials are justices of the peace, constables, trus- 
tees, treasurer, assessor, clerk, road-overseer, and overseer 
of the poor. Some of the states unite two of these offices 
into one, as the township clerk or the trustee may dis- 
charge the duty also of looking after the poor. These 
officers enumerated are necessary under the regularly 
organized township organization, but some of the states 
not having such an organization, have only justices of 
the peace and constables as township officers. All these 
officers are elected by the voters of the township at a 
general election held for that purpose. Usually they are 
elected for one year, but some of the officers, such as 
justices of the peace and constables, may be elected for 
two years, or in certain cases, for four years. In a town- 
ship most frequently there are two justices of the peace, 
and sometimes more, owing to the size and population of 
the township. 

Justices of the Peace. The office of Justice of the 
Peace is an inheritance from our English ancestors. It 
is an honorable and responsible office. Some of our very 
best men have acted in that capacity. Thomas Jefferson, 
after having served as president of the United States, 
was elected justice of the peace by his fellow citizens of 
Monticello, Virginia. This office he filled with dignity 
and impartiality. The citizens in selecting candidates 
for justices of the peace choose men of integrity and in- 
telligence. He is the judicial officer of the township, and 
his court is not regarded as a court of record, yet he keeps 



A STUDY OF THE TOWNSHIP 31 

a record of the official acts that come before him. The 
authority and the jurisdiction of justices of the peace are 
prescribed by the statutes of each state. If a crime is 
committed the justice, upon complaint, issues a war- 
rant for the apprehension of the criminal, which is served 
by the constable, and the offender is arrested and brought 
before the justice, and he is granted a public hearing for 
the purpose of determining the probable cause of his 
guilt or innocence. To make an arrest the constable may 
call upon the bystanders to assist him, and any citizen 
called upon, is in duty bound to aid the constable. If 
a justice of the peace or constable sees one commit a 
crime, an arrest may be made without a warrant. Some- 
times a citizen arrests a criminal and marches him to the 
nearest officer, to whom he is given up. Sometimes the 
criminal gives himself up. The cases that a justice usually 
has cognizance of are those of assault and battery, theft, 
robbery, disturbance of the peace, civil cases in which 
differences for small amounts arise between citizens, and 
the posting of estrays ; he may write contracts and wills, 
and has authority to marry persons. 

Township Board. Under township organization, the 
trustee, clerk, and treasurer usually constitute the town- 
ship board, and transact the business of the township. 
The assessor lists and assesses the property, personal and 
real, in the township. The township board levies the 
taxes, the treasurer collects the taxes, and the township 
board authorizes the treasurer to pay out the money. The 
township clerk keeps the minutes of the proceedings of 
the board in a book kept for that purpose, and whenever 
any township business is to be transacted, public notice 
thereof, under direction of the township board, is given 
and attested by the clerk. These matters are regulated 
by statute in each state, and vary somewhat. There is a 



32 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

very general movement in every state for good roads, 
and the road overseer 's position is much more import- 
ant than formerly. The road overseer has charge of the 
roads and highways, and it is his duty to keep them in 
repair by calling out the male citizens to work on them, 
and by expending the money raised by the road tax to 
keep them in good condition. It is related that James 
Monroe, having retired to his home in Virginia after his 
lo«ig term of public service, was elected road overseer. 
In this office he displayed great zeal, and he made the 
people put the roads in such excellent condition that his 
neighbors did not wish him to serve a second term. 

A Model. The township is the best model for local self- 
government that has yet been developed in this country. 
The school district is based upon it. In the township the 
citizens living under this organization decide chiefly what 
they need and how to supply their wants. They tax 
themselves for all local purposes. They decide upon 
keeping their roads in good condition, and they know and 
understand their local needs better than outsiders. 

Oath of Office. All public officers take or subscribe to 
what is called the oath of office, usually with hand raised 
and head uncovered. They agree to discharge the duties 
of their office faithfully and to obey the constitution of 
the state and of the United States to the best of their 
ability. When delegates to a state convention meet to 
frame a new constitution for the state, said delegates do 
not take an oath to support the state constitution, but 
they do take an oath to support the constitution of the 
United States. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

In what way does the pupil first learn of political parties? Does 
he usually adopt the partisan views of his father? Give two 
reasons why boys usually watch policemen so closely. Who pays 
the salary of the mail carrier who delivers the mail for you? Why 



A STUDY OF THE TOWNSHIP 33 

does lie wear a uniform? Show how control in school prepares one 
for obedience to law. How was it that in some of the states the 
towns antedate the counties, and in others the counties antedate 
the townships? Write a brief history of the township as a 
political unit. By what authority is one declared to be a voter? 
What are the usual qualifications of a voter? How many square 
miles in the county in which you live? How many townships 
in it? Who is a citizen? Give two good reasons why men who 
do not help to choose good men for office ought to pay a special 
tax; also give two valid reasons why they ought not to be taxed. 
If a new school house is needed, how is the money obtained to 
build it? What prevents a person from voting more than once at 
the same election? 

What is the name of the township in which you live? How 
and why was it named? Can you write the name of the township 
officers of your township and tell briefly the duties of each? If a 
person lives in one township and owns a farm in another, where 
would he pay his real estate tax, provided it is not paid at the 
county seat? Write a description of a cow that has been "posted" 
before a justice of the peace. A road has to be made through 
farms from one settlement to another; can you tell how it must be 
done? A young man and a young woman go to a justice of the 
peace to get married; write out in full what you think would be a 
legal ceremony. If a bridge across a creek has a hole in it, and 
my horse steps into the hole and breaks his leg, have I a chance 
to get pay for the loss? What do you understand by an officer of 
the peace? 



CHAPTER III 
COUNTY OEGAXIZATIOX 

Meaning of the Word County. The word county orig- 
inally meant a province governed by a count, the earl, or 
alderman to whom the government of the shire was in- 
trusted. In England a civil division of the territory is 
called a county. In the United States the terms, the 
county, and the people of the county, are frequently con- 
vertible, and so. too, the county and the commissioners of 
the county, but this is rather a play upon the words em- 
ployed than a strict construction of their legitimate use. 
There are other uses of the word. The following will 
illustrate one of them: ''The city of St. Louis, under the 
constitution of Missouri, though not a county as that word 
is ordinarily used in the constitution, is in a qualified sense 
a county, being a legal subdivision of the state which 
bears county relations to the state, and having many im- 
portant attributes of a county." 

Not a Corporation. It has been held in general that a 
county is not a corporation, but that it is a political 
organization of a certain portion of the territory within 
the state, particularly defined by geographical limits, for 
the more convenient administration of the laws and police 
power of the state, and for the convenience of the in- 
habitants. Such an organization is invested with certain 
powers, delegated by the state for administrative pur- 

34 



COUNTY OEGANIZATION 35 

poses, and is thus clothed with many characteristics of 
a body corporate. While in many respects it is like a 
corporation, the power to sue or to be sued is expressly 
conferred by statute. 

In the Kevised Statutes, or in any act or resolution of 
Congress, the word county shall include a "parish," or 
any other subdivision of a state or territory. The modern 
county organization is a combination of the New England 
system and the southern county unit. 

How a County Is Formed. Establishing a county is 
setting apart certain territory to be in the future organized 
as a political community, or a quasi corporation for politi- 
cal purposes ; organizing a county is vesting in the people 
of the territory such corporate rights and powers. The 
state legislatures divide the states into counties of suit- 
able size for the convenience of the citizens and the admin- 
istration of justice, and the protection of life and property. 
"When the boundaries of a county are once fixed and the 
citizens of the county have determined by a vote where 
the county seat shall be located, the legislature can not 
remove the county seat or divide the county thus or- 
ganized, unless the qualified voters decide first upon such 
division. However, the people of a county may remove 
its county seat by a two-thirds vote, but this right is con- 
ferred by statute. The feuds engendered by the removal 
of county seats or attempted removals in many of the 
states, would fill volumes. These are known in the history 
of some of the states as the "county-seat wars/' 

The legislature authorizes how the counties of a state 
shall be organized, what officials shall be elected or ap- 
pointed, and what powers they shall be invested with. 
They shall have power to acquire land by purchase or 
gift for the erection of a court house, county jail, and 
other public buildings, at the county seat; to assess and 



36 THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

collect taxes, to enforce their collection, to apportion 
and pay out the money collected; to divide the county 
into townships, to build bridges, and to have roads and 
highways surveyed and kept in order. As a quasi 
corporation the county can sue or be sued. 

COUNTY OFFICERS 

County Officer Defined. A county officer is one by whom 
a county performs its usual political functions — its func- 
tions of government; who exercises continuously, and as 
a part of the regular and permanent administration of 
government, its public powders, trusts, or duties. He may 
be a judge of the county court, commissioner, supervisor, 
treasurer, or other local functionary. The statutes of 
each state usually designate the county officers, and pre- 
scribe their duties. 

Our theory of government is one of balanced power 
even in the counties : the executive, legislative, and judi- 
cial; but these functions frequently overlap, and in some 
states the county government is not judicial. The county 
officers usually wield a larger influence than the town- 
ship officers, and they exercise usually jurisdiction over 
the entire county. 

County Judges. In some states the county commission- 
ers or county judges are the chief officials. 

The other officers are the treasurer, recorder, clerks 
of the courts, assessor, county attorney, auditor, sheriff, 
surveyor, coroner, superintendent of schools, and probate 
judge. 

The county supervisors, commissioners, or judges have 
the custody of the property belonging to the county and 
they legislate for the county. The court house, jail, and 
county farm are under their care and supervision, and 
they transact the county business in the court house. 



COUNTY ORGANIZATION 37 

They levy the county and state taxes and apportion the 
county revenue for such purposes as they deem expedient 
and necessary for the county in the way of public im- 
provements, laying out roads, and keeping them in good 
condition. They represent the county in all suits in 
which the county is a party. They provide the polling 
places in the county when an election is to be held, and 
appoint the judges and clerks. Their powers and duties 
are prescribed by the statute law of the state. 

The Sheriff. The sheriff is an officer who represents 
the administrative power of the state within the county 
for which he is chosen; he executes the mandates of the 
courts of record in the county. He is the conservator 
of the peace, and he represents the sovereign power of the 
county. It is his duty to make arrests; he may bind 
persons to keep the peace. In his ministerial capacity he 
executes all processes issued from the courts, summons 
and returns juries, makes arrests upon warrants, and 
executes judgments and sentences. 

County Treasurer. The county treasurer may be, or 
may not be, the county collector. If the county collector 
collects the money due the county he pays it over to the 
county treasurer, who is the custodian of the county 's 
money. Whatever state taxes are collected and paid to 
the county treasurer he remits to the state treasurer, and 
the county money he pays out only on warrants issued 
by the county court or other competent authority. School 
money is paid only upon warrants issued by the proper 
school authorities. The county treasurer is under a heavy 
bond for the safe keeping of all funds entrusted to his 
care. Usually the money in his custody is kept in banks 
called county depositories, and which pay to the county 
a low rate of interest on daily balances. In counties 
having township organization, unless otherwise provided, 



38 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

the collector turns over the school money on warrants 
drawn by the proper school officers. 

All collectors and treasurers are required to make an- 
nual settlements, or oftener if necessary, with the county 
court, commissioners, or supervisors. These officials ex- 
amine carefully how the books of the collector and treas- 
urer have been kept, the number and amount of each war- 
rant paid, and for what purpose; they audit and check 
the warrants paid, noting the ones authorized to be paid, 
but not paid; they count the money on hand, or loaned 
out, and they see whether the money has been properly 
applied to the payment of indebtedness. This is called 
"checking up the books." 

County Attorney. In some states this officer is called 
the prosecuting attorney. He is the legal adviser for the 
county court and other county officers, and he prose- 
cutes or defends cases in which the county or the state is a 
party to a suit. By virtue of his office he is the legal ad- 
viser of all the county officers, of grand jurors, of justices 
of the peace, constables, and road overseers. The larger 
cities usually have a legal adviser, the city counselor, to 
attend to the business of the city in connection with 
county business. 

Circuit Clerk. In counties thickly settled and in which 
a large volume of legal business is transacted, the circuit 
clerk is the clerk of the circuit court. Sometimes the 
duties of this office and the recorder of deeds are per- 
formed by the same official ; usually there are the two of- 
ficials. It should be borne in mind that each state gives 
names and confers duties and responsibilities on its own 
officers. 

The chief duties of the circuit clerk are to issue sum- 
monses, subpoenas for witnesses, and issue warrants for 
the arrest of persons charged with crime. He administers 



COUNTY ORGANIZATION 39 

the oath to grand and petit juries, and to witnesses. He 
keeps a record of the proceedings of the court, which is 
approved by the judge presiding. 

Recorder of Deeds. As the title implies, the chief duties 
of this officer are to index and record various instruments 
of writing. He keeps a record of deeds, mortgages, and 
all other documents pertaining to the sale of real and 
personal property as the law directs. An instrument that 
is filed for record must be copied exactly as it is written 
into a book kept for that purpose. These records are open 
to the inspection of the public, and it is through an 
examination of the records of each county that the titles 
to land are traced and the owners are known. The 
recorder in some states issues marriage licenses and 
records the same in a book kept for that purpose. 

Public Administrator. This official is styled in many 
of the states probate judge. The word probate is from 
the Latin verb probare, to prove or test. The chief duty 
of the probate judge is to prove and test the validity of 
wills, and to settle the business of deceased persons when 
not otherwise provided for. When a person dies pos- 
sessed of property, letters of administration are usually 
granted to the wife of the deceased husband, or vice versa, 
or to some other person who resides in the state, either a 
relative or some responsible person of good character. 
In certain cases in which there may be minors who are 
not old enough to give a bond, the probate judge may 
appoint an administrator, or the public administrator 
may take charge himself, and wind up the affairs under 
the direction of the court. 

County Surveyor. The county surveyor lays out new 
roads, determines the boundaries of tracts of land, estab- 
lishes townships, section and half-section lines from the 
original survey or field notes made by the government 



40 THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

surveyor who established the mile and half-mile corners 
of each section. Frequently he lays out additions to the 
cities and towns in the county in which he lives. In cases 
of dispute, he surveys and determines the division lines 
between private citizens, if they request him to do so, and 
his decision is accepted as a finality. "When a large tract 
of land is to be divided among persons having ownership 
therein, he is the person legally qualified to make the 
subdivisions. However, if the parties interested wish to 
choose another surveyor and all agree thereto, the one 
chosen can subdivide it. Unless otherwise provided for, 
he superintends the construction of county bridges. 

The Coroner. The coroner is a county officer who in- 
quires into the causes of sudden and violent deaths, w r hile 
the facts are recent and the circumstances are fresh in 
the minds of the people. The inquiry made by a coroner 
is an inquest, the object of which is to seek informa- 
tion and secure evidence in case of death by violence or 
other unnatural means. The coroner acts only when 
there is a reasonable ground to suspect that death was so 
caused. Usually the coroner is a man who possesses both 
medical and surgical skill to determine the cause of the 
death of the deceased. A jury aids him in making or 
seeing that a thorough examination is made. 

Salaries of County Officers. The salaries of most public 
officials are fixed by law, and the compensation for like 
service differs widely in each state, depending upon the 
amount of business transacted and the number of inhabi- 
tants in the county. The offices are sometimes divided 
into two kinds, salaried offices and fee offices. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Define county. How are counties formed? What are the duties 
of the county officers in the county in which you live? What 



COUNTY OKGANIZATION 41 

salary has each one? How is the location of a county seat 
selected? What is the difference between a township and a 
county? Which antedates? Tell how the county officers of your 
county are elected. Are any of them ineligible for re-election? 
What qualifications must each possess? What kind of an oath 
does each take? What does the word " coroner" mean? 



CHAPTER IV 

CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES 

How Distinguished. Within a county may be located 
cities, towns, and villages, or one or more of these. There 
is no strict line of demarcation separating a village or a 
town from a city, except as the General Assembly 1 of the 
state defines by statute, under authority vested in it by 
the state constitution, which provides for the organiza- 
tion, classification, and incorporation of cities, towns, and 
villages, based on population. In a general sense a small 
cluster of houses is called a village ; and a town or a city 
is incorporated under law. A city is a town incorporated. 2 

Powers. The authority exercised by cities and towns 
is chiefly executive or regulative, but they have some 
judicial and legislative functions which are conferred by 
legislative enactment or by charter. The state does not 
surrender its authority over cities and towns, or over 
counties composing the state. In the large cities of our 
country the governments thereof carry with them respon- 
sibilities greater than that of the states in which they are 
located. From this it is evident that there must be many 
local officers to look after, direct, control, and execute 
the laws and ordinances of a great city. Wherever men 
congregate in large numbers there must be lodged some- 
where power to preserve order, to protect life and prop- 
erty, that in case of danger can be set in active motion 
speedily. 

Note 1. — Generally styled the "State Legislature." 

Xote 2. — Throughout the west, generally, towns and villages have no 
legal status. In Kansas they are divided into cities of the first, second, 
and third classes. 

42 



CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES 43 

Officers. There are many officers and deputies needed 
in a large city. These officers are executive and adminis- 
trative, of whom some are elective and others appointive, 
owing to the laws by which the city is governed. To know 
the- plan of organization of a city government, it is neces- 
sary to examine the laws under which it is chartered and 
what conditions the General Assembly of the state pre- 
scribed for its organization and government, and to ascer- 
tain in each case where authority and responsibility 
reside. 

Mayor. The mayor is the chief executive officer of a 
city. His principal duty is to enforce, or to see that the 
laws are strictly enforced, and that the officers, elective 
and appointive, attend faithfully to their respective duties. 
His authority is co-extensive with the city limits. It is 
an elective office in the United States, and is for a period 
of from two to four years. 

Council. The legislative department is styled the Board 
of Aldermen, the City Council, or Assembly. In most 
cities there are two houses, an upper and a lower, follow- 
ing the plan of the state legislature, and the two houses 
of Congress. Cities and towns are divided into wards, 
and these are still further subdivided into voting pre- 
cincts. The members of the lower house are elected from 
wards, and the members of the upper house are elected 
from the city at large, though not in all cases. If there 
be two houses, the members of the lower house are usually 
chosen for two years, and those of the upper house for 
four years. After an election both houses (or one house, 
owing to plan of city government), organize by the elec- 
tion of a president as the presiding officer, and then form 
committees to look particularly after the business inter- 
ests of the city. 

Counselor. It is the duty of the city counselor to advise 



44 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

the mayor, the aldermen, and the other city officers, in 
regard to their duties, liabilities, and responsibilities. The 
city is often a party to a law suit and expert legal advice 
is needed, and the city counselor is the representative 
and chosen defender of the rights of the city, and conse- 
quently of its citizens. The mayor usually selects the city 
counselor, and he is confirmed by the aldermen by ballot, 
as are all other appointive officers, unless in such cases 
wherein the civil service rules prohibit removals. 

Treasurer. The city treasurer is the custodian of the 
money belonging to the city. He is under a heavy bond, 
and only pays out any money when he is authorized to do 
so upon the presentation of an order properly drawn by 
the city auditor and countersigned by the comptroller. 

Assessor. The assessor lists all the taxable property, 
real and personal, in the corporate limits of the city. The 
assessor makes his returns ordinarily to the city clerk, 
but the city council by ordinance decides what the rate 
of taxation shall be for each year. It is always the inten- 
tion of the aldermen to levy a tax sufficient to carry on 
all the departments of the city government without the 
taxes being excessively burdensome to the people. 

Collector. The taxes of a city may be collected by the 
treasurer or a collector. However collected, there are 
checks outside of the tax receipts issued to the taxpayers 
when taxes are paid. The person who pays a tax is 
given a receipt which describes the property upon which 
the tax is paid, and if it be a receipt for a tax paid on 
real estate, the person paying said tax ought to be sure 
that the real property is correctly described, because it 
is difficult to get a tax wrongfully paid refunded. The 
auditor's books are the checks on the treasurer's or col- 
lector's receipts issued from day to day. The auditor is 
in a sense the expert bookkeeper of the city's financial 



CITIES, TOWNS AXD TILLAGES 45 

transactions. He draws warrants on the city treasurer, 
which must be countersigned by the city comptroller. 

Chief of Police. This important officer is an appointive 
one. The chief of police is charged with keeping the 
order of the city. All regulations of this kind are called 
"police regulations." The larger the city, the greater is 
the necessity for the utmost vigilance. In the case of 
riots or other serious outbreaks, if the police force of a 
city is unable to restore order, the governor of the state 
may call out the militia to aid in suppressing disorder, 
or, on extraordinary occasions, the aid of the national 
government may be invoked. 

City Governments.* The limits of a small text-book 
prevent an enumeration of all the officers required in a 
large city to attend to the public business. An enumera- 
tion of the chief departments will give some idea of the 
extent of the many interests involved. However, in a 
town many of the duties are combined under a few de- 
partments, and some are dispensed with. The charter of 
a city is its fundamental local law. prescribing its form 
of government, fixing and defining the powers and duties 
of its officers, and of the common council. The power or 
function of a city is to preserve, protect, and defend the 
lives of its citizens, to safeguard their property, and to 
promote the general welfare. The affairs of a city govern- 
ment should be conducted on the same business principles 
as a prudent business man adopts in conducting his per- 
sonal affairs. In order to accomplish this object, there 
must be a business system of finance and accounting, so 
that responsibility can always be definitely and quickly 
placed where it belongs. 

Revenue. Money is needed to meet the current ex- 
penses of a city government. All improvements and re- 
Note. — For commission form of government, see supplement. 



46 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

pairs made by the city must be paid for in taxes collected 
from the people. Public buildings must be erected on 
sites purchased for that purpose ; streets graded and 
paved, and sidewalks laid, and these improvements are 
met by general or special taxes. Private property is some- 
times taken for public use, and it must be paid for. 
Streets are lighted, water mains laid, parks and boule- 
vards and playgrounds set aside, improved, and kept in 
order for the benefit of the public. 

Judicial Department. The business is carried on by 
departments, each having a definite kind of work assigned 
to it. The judicial department consists of the various 
kinds of courts established for the enforcement of private 
rights and the redress of private wrongs, or for the redress 
of public wrongs, crimes, and misdemeanors. There is, 
however, no uniformity in the states as to the number, 
name, or organization of these courts. Each city has 
courts of its own. 

Board of Public Works. This department is composed 
of three or more men whose powers and duties are pre- 
scribed by the city charter. They elect the city engineer, 
who ought to be a specialist in his profession. His title 
indicates the duties of his office. Usually the power of 
the board of public works is very great in planning what 
city improvements ought to be made, especially in modern 
cities. This department looks after all street repairs; 
the laying out of new additions to the city; the removal 
of the surplus water that falls in the city; the cleaning 
of the streets ; the erection of street lights ; regulating the 
placing of telegraph poles, electric light poles, street car 
poles ; the construction of vaults, and of sewers and sewer 
connections ; the grading and paving of streets ; and the 
laying of water and gas pipes. This department has the 
power of establishing a system of street cleaning and 




NEWLY ARRIVED IMMIGRANTS 



CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES 47 

sprinkling, which is sometimes called the street de- 
partment. 

Department of Fire and Water. This department is 
under the control of the fire and water commissioners. 
This board has the power to install, and it is its duty to 
maintain and operate a water works system for the use 
of and to supply the city, its inhabitants, and any cor- 
poration within the corporate limits of the city with 
water. Not only is water for all ordinary purposes to be 
supplied, but the city is to be furnished with ample fire 
protection. In this department, as in all the other depart- 
ments, the establishing and maintaining such a depart- 
ment carries with it the means of providing the agencies 
for putting it into effect. This board appoints the chief 
of the fire department, who has the superintendence and 
control of the officers and men belonging to the depart- 
ment. 

Health Department. Of late years the health of the 
people is properly regarded as the greatest national 
asset. It is the duty of this department to enforce the 
sanitary laws of the state and the ordinances of the city 
relating to public health, and to make such rules and 
regulations, not inconsistent with the laws enacted, as 
will tend to preserve and promote the health of the city. 
This board, through its specialists, may take all neces- 
sary precaution to prevent the spread of infectious or 
contagious diseases; to abate nuisances found anywhere 
within the city; to provide for the registrations of births, 
deaths and marriages, occurring within the city limits; 
and to prescribe rules and regulations governing the ad- 
mission of patients to the city hospitals. 

Department of Education. In many of the older states 
the department of education is connected with the govern- 
ment of the city, but in the middle and western states, this 



48 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

department is entirely independent of the municipal gov- 
ernment. Boards of education, as independent cor- 
porations, levy the taxes, purchase school sites, erect 
buildings, employ teachers, furnish all supplies, such as 
the district may require, and make all rules and regula- 
tions necessary for the instruction, health, and discipline 
of the pupils attending the city schools. The board of 
education, in the name of the school district, may sue or 
be sued in any court of law or equity in which such a suit 
may be brought. 

New York City. The city of New York, the second city 
in population in the world, administers its business 
affairs through the following departments: Department 
of Finance, Public Works, Police, Health, Law, Fire, 
Parks, Taxes and Assessments, Charities, Commissioner 
of Jurors, Municipal and Civil Service Commissioners, 
Bureau of Buildings, Public Administrator, Department 
of Correction, Docks and Ferries, Public Education, Board 
of Estimates and Apportionment, Commissioner of Li- 
cense, Board of Water Supply, Aqueduct Commissioners, 
and Board of Assessors. The government of the city of 
New York is directly administered under the mayor, 
through departments, nearly all of which are divided 
into bureaus. The fiscal department is that of finance. 
The law department is under the corporation counsel 
appointed by the mayor, and the judicial authority is 
vested in a city court of ten judges. The departments 
of Docks and Ferries, Water Supply, Gas, Electricity, 
and Tenements are each under a single commissioner. 

The class is advised to study the village, town, or city 
government near at hand, and compare it with the various 
departments of other municipalities. 



CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES 49 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

How is the mayor of the city or town in which you live, or near 
where you live, elected and for what length of time? Is he eligible 
to re-election? What qualifications must he have? How much 
money is raised by taxation each year to carry on the municipal 
government in your county seat? For what purposes is it expended i 
What is the rate of taxation on the hundred dollars ' valuation? 
Is the property assessed at its cash value, and if not, at what per 
cent, of its cash value? 

Name each of the city officers in the largest city of the state in 
which you live, and state what duties each is expected to perform. 
How many give bond for the faithful performance of duties, 
and for how much is each bond? How can the bond be collected 
if he does not perform his duty? Why does a policeman walk 
around with a club in his hand? What is the difference between 
a special city tax and a general tax? If the citizens in a certain 
part of a town or city want a street graded, or a sidewalk put 
down, how would they proceed to have it done? If the mayor 
of a city resigns, to whom would he send his resignation? On 
what day are city elections generally held? Can you assign any 
reason for holding such elections in the spring? In your state 
how may the limits of a town or city be extended? 



CHAPTER V 

STATE GOVEKNMENTS— EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE 
DEPAKTMENTS 

Uniformity of Plan. The different state governments 
are all modeled on the same plan, patterned after that of 
the constitution of the United States. Each state has a 
state constitution, which is a printed document, and it 
and the laws enacted by the state legislature constitute 
the supreme law of the state. The people of a state, 
through their chosen representatives, can alter their state 
constitution by complying with certain requirements, or 
make a new constitution and submit it to the qualified 
voters of the state, to be ratified or rejected by a popular 
vote. Any statute law that the people are not satisfied 
with may be amended or repealed by an act of the 
legislature. 

The thirteen original colonies were settled chiefly by 
people from Europe, but since the close of the Revolu- 
tionary "War, all the other states have been formed out 
of territory acquired by treaty, by purchase, or by annex- 
ation. Each state is a republic, and maintains a repub- 
lican form of government, which is guaranteed by the 
constitution of the United States. Each state is supreme 
within its own sphere, so that its authority does not con- 
flict with that of the United States. 

New States. During and after the Revolutionary War, 
till the adoption of the constitution of the United States, 
the original colonies called themselves states, but after 

50 



STATE GOVEENMENTS 51 

the adoption of the constitution they became a nation — 
the United States of America. Frequently the thirteen 
original states are spoken of as the colonies. All the other 
states have been formed out of territory belonging to the 
United States. Each state, since the adoption of the con- 
stitution, has been admitted into the Union by a special 
act of congress. Whenever a portion of territory had a 
sufficient population, the citizens thereof applied to con- 
gress to be admitted as a state. Congress, if favorably 
disposed, passed what is called an "enabling act," which 
authorized the citizens to form a state constitution. 

A territorial convention is called, and the delegates 
elected for that purpose frame a constitution, which is 
submitted to the people for adoption, and it is then sub- 
mitted to the congress of the United States, and, if satis- 
factory, congress passes another act admitting the new 
state into the Union on an equal footing with the other 
states already in the Union. Sometimes the President 
admits the state by proclamation, if not otherwise pro- 
vided for. Owing to political or other reasons, the admis- 
sion of some new states has been unnecessarily delayed. 
This, however, belongs more particularly to the political 
history of the country than to its constitutional history. 

Tersely put, each state has an individuality of its own, 
and the citizens generally take great pride in the state 
in which they live, and are as loyally devoted to it as they 
are to the national government. The most popular theory 
of the state is that of indestructible states forming an 
indestructible Union. Each state has a seal, a coat-of- 
arms, and a motto. Some of them have nicknames. The 
nickname of each state has a definite meaning, usually 
referring to some sportive or contemptuous quality or 
attribute. 

Units Composing a State. A state is composed of coun- 



52 THE DESIEABLE CITIZEN 

ties, and, for purposes of the state and national govern- 
ments, the state is divided into election districts, namely, 
for the state legislature, the house of representatives and 
the state senate, and into congressional districts ; there is 
a further division into judicial districts. Each state elects 
its own officers ; and its government, the same as that of 
the national government, is divided into three coordinate 
departments : the legislative, the executive, and the judi- 
cial. The first enacts or passes the laws; the second 
enforces or executes the laws; and the third interprets 
and applies the laws to the cases brought before it for 
settlement. 

Executive Department. 

State Officers. The chief officers of a state are a Gov- 
ernor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, State 
Treasurer, State Auditor, Attorney General, and State 
Superintendent of Public Schools. It should not be in- 
ferred that these are the only officers elected or appointed 
to represent the state in all of its activities. To arrive 
at a clear conception of the number of state and county 
officers there are in a state, one must consult the "Blue- 
Book," which contains this information, compiled, usually, 
by the Secretary of each state. 

The Governor. The Governor stands in the same rela- 
tion to the state that the President does to the United 
States. He is the chief executive and administrative offi- 
cer. The voters take deep interest in the election of a 
Governor, next to that of the election of a President. He 
shapes largely the political policy of his party in the state, 
and he may influence legislation if he has a majority of 
the members of the house of representatives and of the 
senate in sympathy with his opinions; but should a 
majority of either house be opposed to his legislative rec- 



STATE GOVEENMENTS 53 

ominendations, then his advice may be unheeded. Now 
and then a governor is elected who is really a governor 
of the entire people of the state, but a large number of 
them are in fact governors because of a majority in that 
politcal party that endorses their policies. The worst 
and most bitter political contests are those within a party, 
because the opposite party, on general principles, as party 
work goes, is on the other side. In times of danger there 
is always patriotism among the people to rally to the 
support of a governor or any other public official who 
tries honestly to do his duty as an official and a citizen. 
A governor may be hampered in various ways by other 
officials, state, county, and city, over whom he has no 
control. 

It is customary in this country for the governor, imme- 
diately after his election, and at the assembling of the 
state legislature to send a message in writing to each 
house, in which he outlines his policies, and suggests such 
changes in the management of state affairs and the enact- 
ment of such laws as appear to be demanded by the 
exigency of present conditions. The legislature is not 
required by law to take cognizance of the governor's rec- 
ommendations, though it may do so in whole or in part. 
Notwithstanding this, much authority is exercised by the 
governor of the state. Each state has provided by law 
for boards and commissions to conduct certain adminis- 
trative phases of the state's business. These bodies are 
usually nominated by the governor and confirmed by the 
state senate. The duties and responsibilities devolving 
upon the governor are set forth in the state constitution. 

Lieutenant-Governor. Ordinarily, the lieutenant-gov- 
ernor has little to do except when the state legislature is 
in session, and then he is the president of the state senate. 
Should the governor die, be impeached, resign his office, 



54 THE DESIBABLE CITIZEN 

or be temporarily absent from the state, the lieutenant- 
governor becomes the acting governor of the state. 

Secretary of State. The secretary of state is its chief 
clerk, and he keeps its seal and records, including its legis- 
lative and administrative proceedings. He canvasses elec- 
tion returns, state and national, and issues election certifi- 
cates. Whenever state records are to be consulted, he 
supplies the information. Besides understanding his duties 
well, the secretary of state ought to know how to meet 
people pleasantly and courteously. He is the state letter- 
writer whenever official information is to be communicated. 

Other State Officers. The state treasurer is the custo- 
dian of the money belonging to the state. The state 
auditor is, in brief, the bookkeeper and general accountant 
of the state. He is supposed to know the resources and 
the expenditures from year to year, in order to carry on 
the state government. 

The attorney general is the state's legal adviser, and 
the state superintendent is the educational head of the 
public-school system of the state. 

Qualifications. The qualifications of all the state offi- 
cers are prescribed by the constitution of the state, and 
are explicitly enumerated, as are also what things may 
disqualify or render a public official ineligible. 

Legislative Department 

It is proper to take a brief survey of state constitu- 
tions, since they are all modeled on the same general plan, 
but varying in details. The constitution of the United 
States, at the time it was framed and submitted to the 
several states for ratification, was struck off along inde- 
pendent lines, embodying the ripest and best thought of 
American statesmanship. It was in every -sense a new 
governmental experiment, and the states, in framing their 



STATE GOVERNMENTS 55 

constitutions, embodied its most salient features. The 
chief subdivisions are the Bill of Rights ; the three coordi- 
nate departments — Legislative, Executive, and Judicial; 
and the miscellaneous provisions. Many of the mis- 
cellaneous provisions are supplemented by legislative 
enactments. 

State Legislature. The state legislature is composed of 
two houses : the senate and the house of representatives. 
So far as originating bills, these bodies have equal power. 
No bill can become a law unless it is passed by a majority 
of both houses. The state senate is always much smaller 
in its membership than the house of representatives. Both 
houses are elected by the same citizens. In most states 
each county is entitled to a representative, and the most 
populous may have several, and the large cities may have 
a very much larger number. Each state in such cases 
provides for and determines how many representatives 
the cities are entitled to on a basis of population. A rep- 
resentative is elected for two years. Each state is divided 
.into senatorial districts. For instance, the state of Mis- 
souri is divided into thirty-four senatorial districts. The 
term of office is four years, one-half the senators being 
elected every two years. This plan of election insures 
some experienced members in the senate each session. 
When the legislature convenes, the members of the lower 
house meet in political caucuses and agree upon the per- 
sons that each party will present for officers during the 
session. The presiding officer of the house is elected in 
open session, and he is called the "Speaker." When he 
is absent, a speaker pro tern, is chosen to preside. In the 
senate the lieutenant-governor presides, but in his absence, 
the president of the senate. The senate then elects its 
other officers the same as the house. 

Work of Committees. Nearly all the work of the legis- 



56 THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

lature is done by committees. There are two kinds of 
committees : general and special. In making up the com- 
mittees of the house, the speaker names the members. In 
the composition of the committees, the intention is to 
put each man on a committee with whose business he has 
some knowledge, perhaps expert information. The lieu- 
tenant-governor appoints the senate committees, which 
correspond to the standing committees of the house. 

Until the houses are regularly organized, no legal busi- 
ness can be transacted. Any bill, to become a law, must 
be passed by a majority vote of all the members of each 
house, and then be signed by the governor, or, in default 
of his signature, an act may become a law in certain cases ; 
but if he vetoes it, it may be passed by a two-thirds vote 
of each house. The laws passed by a legislature are 
printed by the state, and are designated "Special Acts," 
unless it be a revising session. 

Each state constitution provides for holding regular ses- 
sions and special sessions of the legislature. The date of 
meeting of the regular sessions is fixed by law, and the. 
length of the session ; but an extra session may be called 
by the governor when the condition of the state demands 
it, which the governor sets forth in his proclamation call- 
ing the session, or else he states the purpose of their con- 
vening in a special message after the legislature assembles. 
Only the subjects thus mentioned can be considered. The 
pupils studying the book will do well to refer to a copy 
of the Kules and Regulations governing the proceedings 
of the two houses of the legislature of the state in which 
they live, and trace some bill through all of its stages till 
it becomes a law. 

Election of Officers in a State 

An Election. An election is a choosing or selecting a 
person or persons to fill an office in a department of gov- 



STATE GOVERNMENTS 57 

eminent — in a school district, township, town, city, county, 
congressional district,, or state, as distinguished from an 
appointment made by some competent authority. An elec- 
tion is performed by citizens voting for the persons 
whom they wish to represent them. Elections are effected 
through the instrumentality of boards or commissioners of 
elections, by prescribing, where, within certain bounda- 
ries, on a certain day. and between certain hours, ballots 
shall be cast, recorded, and certified to, and returns made. 

Office-Holders. In any one of the most populous states, 
the number of persons holding offices, large and small, is 
very large. Some states have as many as 8,000 or 10,000 
school districts, and in the country districts there are 
three directors to each district, and in the towns and 
cities, six directors to each district. Then each county is 
divided, in all the newer states, into townships, and each 
of the country townships has a justice of the peace and 
a constable. These are doubled or trebled in the county 
seats. From these illustrations, one can imagine the larg r e 
number of persons holding office in a county, and on 
upward to the highest state officials. Nearly all of these 
offices are filled by election, and this means voting by 
ballot. 

Getting Candidates. Terms in political offices, for most 
positions, are short, generally two years, some for four 
years, and a few for longer periods. There are men in 
every county that want office ; some do not care to become 
candidates for any office ; and others are too much en- 
grossed with their own business to give it any attention. 
The men who want office may announce themselves as 
candidates, subject to the endorsement of their political 
party, or decide to run independently. Candidates, how- 
ever, may be nominated either in party convention, by 
petition, or by direct primaries. After the nominations 



58 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

have been made, in due time the election is held, and the 
person receiving the highest number of legal votes cast is 
elected. At school elections, the plan is much simpler. 
Usually a hat is passed around, and each voter writes the 
name of the person he votes for on a slip of paper, which is 
put into the hat, and these slips are counted ; sometimes it is 
done viva voce. School officers and township officers are 
usually elected in the spring, though not always. The 
county elections are held in the fall, at the time of the 
state and congressional elections. 

County Officers. The candidates, as has been mentioned, 
are chosen in county conventions. The chairman of the 
county committee of the party of which he is a member 
issues a call, signed by the clerk, directing the voters of 
each township, town, or city to elect and send delegates 
to the county convention to nominate county officers. This 
convention is held at the county seat. The delegates 
assemble at the appointed hour, each having a certificate 
of his election. The convention is called to order ; a tem- 
porary chairman and clerk are elected; committees are 
appointed, on permanent organization, on credentials, and 
resolutions ; permanent officers are elected ; the organiza- 
tion, upon reassembling, is perfected, and the delegates 
then proceed to the regular order of business. The same 
method is pursued by all the political parties. 

For the nomination of members of the house of repre- 
sentatives, except in populous cities, each county sends 
its quota of delegates, and these, in convention assembled, 
nominate the candidate of their party for congress. The 
same method is followed in nominating judges for the 
circuit courts of many of the states, and in nominating 
state senators. 

State officers are nominated by delegates from the coun- 
ties, in a state convention assembled. Thus, it is seen that 



STATE GOVERNMENTS 59 

in nominating conventions, from the school district to that 
of the highest office in the state, the general plan is the 
same — partly direct and partly through delegates. 

The Campaign. From the time nominations of county 
and state officers are made, till the election, is called "the 
campaign." During the campaign, each party tries to 
get all its members to register, if registration is neces- 
sary, and to persuade as many voters as possible of the 
opposite party to change their votes. It is during the 
time of political campaigns that men called "spell-bind- 
ers" are abroad in the land, making long speeches on 
small subjects, and short speeches on long subjects. 

Election Day. The day of the county and state elec- 
tion is uniform throughout the state. The poll-books are 
made out in advance for each voting precinct. Inside the 
room or booth where the voting is done, the judges and 
clerks of the election sit. They belong to the two great 
political parties. The names of the voters are already 
on the poll-books, if in a city where a registered list of 
the qualified voters is made. The person who comes in to 
vote, if he is unknown to any of the judges or clerks, 
gives his name and residence, and he may answer ques- 
tions to settle any doubts — even be sworn — before he 
hands in his ballot. The voter is handed one of each 
kind of ticket, and he selects the one that he wishes to 
vote. If it does not have the names of all the men he 
wants to vote for, he .scratches out such, and in their 
stead writes those of his choice. He now folds up his 
ticket, if he wishes to, and hands it to one of the judges, 
who writes a number on it, and puts it into a box which 
has a slit in it through which the ticket is put. When the 
hour arrives for closing the polls, the judges and clerks, 
usually in the presence of witnesses, open the box and pro- 
ceed to count the votes, and put the result on tally- 



60 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

sheets. They string the ballots east,.. put them into the 
box, lock it, and take it with its contents to the proper 
custodian of the ballots and the tally-sheets. In due time 
the votes are canvassed, the results tabulated, and certifi- 
cates of election issued by the proper official. 

The pupil will remember that each state, through legis- 
lative enactments, prescribes its own methods of pro- 
cedure in all cases whatsoever. The qualifications of 
voters are similar in all the states, but they are not uni- 
form. The word vote is from the Latin word votum, a 
wish or a vow, and a voter is an elector who votes, or is 
entitled to a vote. ■ 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

What states touch the state in which you live? What is its 
latitude? Its longitude? How many counties in it? Which is 
the largest? Which the smallest? How were the boundaries 
determined? What salary does the governor receive? The state 
superintendent? What are the qualifications of each? How many- 
times must a bill be read in the legislature before it can become a 
law? What do you understand by "Keed's Eules of Order"? 
What are the qualifications of a member of the house of repre- 
sentatives, and of the senate in your state? What compensation 
does each member receive? What is meant by i( calling the yeas 
and nays," and how is it done? How many representatives and 
how many senators in your state? How are candidates nominated 
for office? Eepeat the oath of office that a member of a state 
legislature must take. Who judges of the qualifications of a 
member of either house, provided there be a contest? By what 
authority can a member be expelled? When is a member recog- 
nized as "having the floor "1 

How many voters in the election precinct where you live? What 
was the total vote cast in your county at the last election? How 
many congressmen is your state entitled to? What qualifications 
must a voter have in the state in which you live, a justice of the 
peace, a representative in the state legislature? 



CHAPTER VI 

STATE GOVEENMENTS— THE JUDICIAL DEPAETMENT 

State Courts. The Judiciary is that department of the 
state government which refers to its courts. These offi- 
cials are called judges, and a judge is a public officer 
whose function is to declare the law, to administer justice 
in a court of law, to conduct the trial of causes between 
litigants according to legal forms and methods. 

Kinds of Laws. The word law as a legal term is used 
in a restricted sense. Blackstone's definition is: "A rule 
of action dictated by a superior, and which an inferior is 
bound to obey." However, the laws of a state usually 
mean the rules and enactments promulgated by the legis- 
lative authority of the state, or those long-established 
customs and usages which have the force of laws. For 
ordinary purposes of treatment, laws are divided broadly 
into two classes : Civil Law and Criminal Law. Civil Law 
is the law of citizens — the law which the people of a state 
ordain and establish for their own government. 

The Civil Law is still further divided into common law, 
statutory law, and equity law. Criminal Law may be com- 
mon law, statutory law, or a combination of both. 

Common Law. Every country has its common law. 
Ours is composed partly of the common law of England 
and partly of our own usage. It deals with issues between 
individuals and corporations, such as contracts, the rela- 
tion of employer and employee, with title to property, if 

61 



62 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

it is in dispute, or when the transfer of real estate is 
involved ; with the collection of debts ; with wrongs done 
to one's property or person, or any other kind of action 
pertaining to business which may be brought in a suit. 

Statutes. The laws passed by a legislature are spoken 
of as statutory laws, or simply as statutes. As has been 
previously stated, the statutory law will, if in conflict 
with common law, displace it. In a trial where the 
enforcement of a contract, either under the common law 
or a statutory enactment, would work a hardship or a 
positive injustice, then the court may try the case in 
equity, which is an attempt to decide the case accord- 
ing to exact justice between the contending parties. The 
distinction between a court of equity and a court of com- 
mon law consists in the different modes of administering 
justice in them, the manner of proof, of trial, and of 
relief. 

To obtain a legal remedy in case of disagreement, resort 
is had to a court. Under due process, the matter is 
brought before a judge and jury, unless the judge tries 
the case himself. Here the facts are set forth by attorneys 
for plaintiff and defendant, the evidence is sifted, and a 
verdict is reached, based upon the facts and the law. But 
in equity cases, the judge hears the evidence, and decides 
accordingly. 

Criminal Law. A crime is an act committed or omitted, 
in violation of a public law either forbidding or command- 
ing it. 

There is a clear distinction between a public wrong 
and a private wrong, which is a civil injury or a tort. A 
crime, therefore, is a breach and a violation of public 
rights and duties due to the whole community, in its 
aggregate capacity, it is a wrong of which the law 
takes cognizance as being injurious to the public, and 



STATE GOVERNMENTS 63 

punishes the offender in a criminal proceeding prose- 
cuted in the name of the state, or in the name of the 
people of the state. The words crimes and misdemeanors 
are used interchangeably, but a crime usually denotes an 
offense of a deeper and more atrocious character than a 
misdemeanor, which comprises smaller faults and omis- 
sions of less consequence than crimes. A crime punish- 
able by death is a capital offense. An infamous crime is 
an offense which renders the perpetrator infamous at 
common law, such as treason, felony, and any offense 
involving falsehood which might injuriously affect the 
administration of justice by the introduction of falsehood 
and fraud. A statutory crime is one which has been made 
criminal by legislative enactment; an indictable offense 
at common law is a common-law crime. A criminal is a 
person who has committed an indictable offense against 
the public. 

Judges. The lowest form of court in the various states 
is that of the Justice of the Peace. The people usually 
speak of this officer as the 'squire or magistrate. Justices 
are elected by the people, and they reside among those 
who elect them. They are conservators of the peace for 
the township in which they live. In cases of small or 
trivial disputes between citizens, and in crimes and mis- 
demeanors, they take cognizance. The chief purpose of 
justices' courts is that the people may have an oppor- 
tunity to resort to law in the community in which they 
live, without incurring heavy expense. Justices have a 
limited jurisdiction in criminal and in civil proceedings. 
Their courts are, strictly speaking, the people's courts, 
and they are scattered throughout all the states and terri- 
tories of the United States. Litigants, if not satisfied with 
the verdict rendered in the justice's court, can always 
take an appeal to a higher court. 



64 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

Circuit Courts 

Judicial Circuits. In most states, the court above the 
justice's court is the circuit court. The state is divided 
into judicial circuits. These courts are superior to the 
justice courts, county courts, municipal and police courts, 
and probate courts, and they have a superintending con- 
trol over them. These courts have jurisdiction over a 
wide range of matter in both civil and criminal cases. 
These are the courts in which the greatest number of 
trials take place, and, in counties where there is not 
a special criminal court, criminal cases are also tried. 
In large cities, the circuit courts are nearly always in 
session, and in a circuit composed of a number of coun- 
ties, at least two sessions are held each year. 

The state constitution prescribes the qualifications of 
the judges of the various courts of the state, and provides 
for increasing the number of circuit judges, if the popula- 
tion and the legal business render redistricting neces- 
sary ; but the redistricting must be done by the legisla- 
ture. The tenure of office is uniform in the same state, 
but not in the different states. Circuit judges are usually 
elected for a term of six years, and their compensation 
is paid by the state. They are allowed a larger salary 
in the cities than in the country circuits. Circuit judges 
hold court in the court house of the county, unless other- 
wise provided for. 

The Grand Jury. To assist a circuit judge in holding 
court, two officers of the county must aid him : the clerk 
of the court and the sheriff. There is always impaneled 
a grand jury, composed of twelve men, chosen usually by 
the county court, or by the sheriff, when the judge or 
county court orders, from the different parts of the 
county, to inquire into any crime that may have been 



STATE GOVERNMENTS 65 

committed, and to send for witnesses to appear before 
them, to be examined for the purpose of securing evi- 
dence. The investigations in the grand-jury room are 
supposed to be strictly private. The sheriff is the active 
officer of the court. "Whenever the grand jury investi- 
gates charges against an offender, and finds them to be 
true, or believes them to be true, from the evidence pro- 
duced, they present an indictment against the person sup- 
posed to be guilty, and the offender is then arraigned in 
court, and tried before a jury, summoned by the 
sheriff, to determine, from the facts, pro and con, whether 
he is guilty or innocent. The case is prosecuted by the 
county or state's attorney, whose duty it is to prosecute 
violators of the law, while the accused is defended by 
counsel who endeavor to prove his innocence. All licensed 
attorneys are officers of the court. Prosecutions of felo- 
nies may be brought by prosecuting attorneys, withoujt 
an indictment by a grand jury. The petit jury is in fact 
the trial jury in civil and criminal cases. The word trial, 
a term in common use, is the judicial examination of the 
issues between parties to a suit, whether they be matters 
of law or of fact. 

The Appeal. When either party is dissatisfied with the 
verdict rendered in the circuit court, an appeal may be 
taken to an appellate or to the supreme court. The ver- 
dict reached in a court is technically called a judgment, 
and a higher court may reverse or confirm the judgment 
of the inferior court. Unless an appeal is taken within a 
certain time, the judgment stands. 

Criminal Courts 

These courts are established for the purpose of trying 
criminal cases, and the judge is called a criminal judge. 



66 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

In criminal cases, the state is the plaintiff, and its law- 
yer, in the name of the state, prosecutes. The order of 
procedure in a trial is prescribed by the statutes of the 
state. The prisoner is brought into court by the sheriff 
or by a deputy sheriff; a jury is impaneled and sworn; 
the crime of which the prisoner is charged is stated ; the 
witnesses are called and sworn, and each of these, in turn, 
testifies directly in behalf of the state, and then is cross- 
examined by counsel for the defendant. This examina- 
tion is conducted by the prosecuting attorney, who may 
be assisted by other counsel. After the state has exam- 
ined its witnesses, and they have been cross-examined, 
the witnesses for the defense are sworn, and testify. 
When the examination of witnesses has closed, the oppos- 
ing counsel address the jury, and, when their speeches are 
concluded, the instructions are given to the jurymen, who 
privately arrive at a verdict, in which they find the 
offender "guilty" or "not guilty." The instructions are 
passed upon by the judge before they are submitted to 
the jury. Should the jury fail to agree, the jury is dis- 
charged, and a new trial is had at another term of court. 
In certain cases the prisoner may give bail for his appear- 
ance at the next term of court, or he may be remanded 
to jail. 

Appellate Courts 

Between the circuit courts of the state and the supreme 
court there is, in some states, an intermediate court, called 
the appellate court. The state may be divided into two or 
more appellate districts. Sometimes these courts are des- 
ignated as courts of appeal. Such courts are established 
when the supreme court of a state is far behind in its 
docket, so that the less important cases that are appealed 
from the lower courts may be promptly disposed of. 



STATE GOVERNMENTS 67 

Supreme Courts 

The highest state court is the Supreme Court. In Mis- 
souri, for instance, the supreme court is divided into two 
divisions; one division tries civil and equity cases, and 
the other division has charge particularly of criminal 
cases. When the docket is not crowded, the two divisions 
may sit together. The jurisdiction of the supreme court 
of the state is coextensive with the limits of the state. As 
its name implies, all other courts in the state are inferior 
to it. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

How many circuit courts in the state in which you live? Are 
there any courts between the circuit courts of your state and the 
supreme court? What constitutes the judicial department of your 
state? Into what classes are the courts of your state divided? 
Explain the difference between a crime and a misdemeanor. What 
is the difference between a civil code and a criminal code? If a 
man steals a sheep worth $10.00, what kind of a crime is it? If 
a boy steals a watermelon, what kind of an offense is it, and why? 
Suppose a farmer in crop time plows on Sunday, what should be 
done with him, and to whom should he be reported? Is betting 
on a horse-race an indictable offense in your county? Give reasons 
for your answers. A man shot a neighbor's dog and they went to 
law about it. In what court would the trial be tried? What is 
meant by swearing a witness? What is perjury? If you were 
accused of a crime, what kind of a jury would you prefer to be 
tried by? What is meant by trying one by his peers? 

What is the law-making department in the state called? If a 
judge decides that a certain decision should be carried into effect, 
does he carry it into effect himself? How is it done? Does 
ignorance of the law excuse anyone? Is a little child or an idiot 
guilty of crime? Why? 



CHAPTER VII 
GOVEENMENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

The Constitution. The political entity or entirety 
formed by the adoption of the Federal Constitution is 
known among the nations of the earth as the United 
States of America, and it embraces the whole territory 
or country subject thereto. The constitution is a written 
document adopted by the original states as the supreme 
law of the land. A constitution is a fundamental law, 
and is the basis of government. A constitution should 
guard the rights of personal security, personal liberty, 
private property, and of religious profession and worship. 
Constitutions are mainly for the protection of minorities. 
Our Federal Constitution went into effect on the first 
^Wednesday in March, in 1789. It was ordained and estab- 
lished by the people of the United States for their govern- 
ment. It was intended to endure through a long lapse 
of ages. 

The Preamble. The Preamble to the Constitution of 
the United States sets forth its objects, and it is as follows : 

V^e, the people of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, 
provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, 
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our pos- 
terity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United 
States of America, 

The preamble, which may be regarded as the enacting 
clause, is a part of the constitution, because it sets forth 

68 



GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES 69 

in the clearest possible way the aim which the delegates 
had in view in making this instrument. 

The original constitution, before any amendments were 
made to it, consisted of seven Articles, numbered in 
Roman numerals from I. to VII., respectively. 

Under Article I. are ten sections ; Article II., four sec- 
tions; Article III., three sections; Article IV., four sec- 
tions ; Articles V., VI., and VII. are not divided into sec- 
tions ; but the fifteen amendments to the constitution are 
numbered consecutively as articles, and their subdivisions 
are called sections. 

Each pupil should have a copy of the Constitution of 
the United States, for study and ready reference. It 
should be read through very carefully, and then discussed, 
paragraph by paragraph. From reading the constitution, 
the learner will observe that it is divided into three 
departments : the Legislative, the Executive, and the 
Judicial. 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT 

Article I., in fifty-three paragraphs, treats of the legis- 
lative powers of the congress of the United States. Con- 
gress consists of the Senate and the House of Representa- 
tives. This body is the law-making department of the 
United States. Members of the House are chosen for 
two years in every state of the Union, and the Senators 
are chosen for six years, by the legislatures of their re- 
spective states, on joint ballot. Each state is entitled to at 
least one representative, and above that they are appor- 
tioned by population, each state being divided into con- 
gressional districts. This division is made by the state 
legislature. Each state is entitled to two United States 
Senators. Under the constitution, congress shall meet at 
least once each year, and such meeting shall be on the 



70 THE DESIEABLE CITIZEN] 

first Monday of December. This date is the beginning of 
a regular session. Extra or special sessions may be des- 
ignated at other dates. On extraordinary occasions the 
President may convene one or both houses of congress by 
proclamation. The sessions of congress are known as 
two kinds: the long session and the short session; the 
former is supposed to be seven months and the latter 
four months. 

The following illustrates how an extra session of con- 
gress is called : 

PEOCLAMATION CALLING CONGEESS INTO EXTRA 
SESSION 

Washington, D. C, March 4. 

By the President of the United States. A proclamation. 

Whereas, by the special message dated January 26, 1911, there 
was transmitted to the Senate and House of Eepresentatives an 
agreement between the Department of State and the Canadian 
Government in regard to reciprocal tariff legislation, together 
with an earnest recommendation that the necessary legislation be 
promptly adopted; and 

Whereas, a bill to carry into effect said agreement has passed the 
House of Eepresentatives, but has failed to reach a vote in the 
Senate; and 

Whereas, the agreement stipulates not only that "the President 
of the United States will communicate to Congress the conclusions 
now reached and recommend the adoption of such legislation as 
may be necessary on the part of the United States to give effect 
to the proposed arrangement, ' ' but also that "the governments of 
the two countries will use their utmost endeavors to bring about 
such changes by concurrent legislation at Washington and at 
Ottawa; " now, 

Therefore, I, William Howard Taft, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the power vested in me by the 
Constitution, do hereby proclaim and declare that an extraordinary 
occasion requires the convening of both Houses of the Congress of 
the United States at their respective chambers in the City of 
Washington on the 4th of April, 1911, at 12 o'clock noon, to the 



GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES 71 

end that they may consider and determine whether the Congress 
shall by the necessary legislation make operative the agreement. 

All persons entitled to act as members of the Sixty-second 
Congress are required to take notice of this proclamation. 

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States at 
Washington the 4th day of March, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand nine hundred and eleven and of the Independence of the 
United States the one hundred and thirty-fifth. 

(Signed) WILLIAM H. TAFT. 

By the President. (Signed) P. C. Knox, Secretary of State. 

Secret sessions of either house may be held to consider 
such measures privately, in cases of threatened violence 
at home, or foreign complications where immediate action 
is necessary. During a secret session or sitting, all per- 
sons, except members and officers, are excluded, and com- 
munications and debates are not made public. 

Adjournment of Congress. Article L, section 5, para- 
graph 4, constitution, is as follows: "Neither house, dur- 
ing the session of congress, shall, without consent of the 
other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other 
place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting." 

An adjournment for more than three days must be by 
concurrent resolution, which fixes a day when the adjourn- 
ment shall commence and terminate. However, in case 
the two houses cannot agree, the President may adjourn 
them to such time as he thinks proper. The adjournment 
of what are known as the long sessions of congress, or 
sessions terminating at the will of the two houses, must 
close by agreement. The closing of a session of congress 
is a very formal proceeding. 

Terms of Office and Compensation. Members of con- 
gress are Senators, Representatives, and Delegates. Be- 
fore a territory is admitted, as a state, into the Union, it 
may elect members to congress, and these are named 



72 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

territorial delegates. They may sit in the house and par- 
ticipate in the discussion of all matters pertaining to their 
respective territory, but they do not vote. 

Members of congress are persons who hold certificates 
of election, properly attested by the governor and the 
secretary of the state from which they are elected. 

The certificate of election, whether the member be 
elected to the senate or house of representatives, is filed 
with the clerk, and his name is placed on the roll, in order 
that the sergeant-at-arms may certify when the member- 
elect can begin to draw his salary. 

The representatives are apportioned among the several 
states according to the population, as it is determined by 
the Government Census every ten years. Beginning with 
the first census, in 1790, the basis of apportionment has 
changed every ten years thereafter. Our country was the 
first in the world to lay its organic structure upon an 
enumeration of the whole people, to be legally obtained, 
as a basis of representation in its most numerous house 
of the national legislature. 

Organization of Congress. The Vice-President is the 
presiding officer of the senate. Each senator has a seat 
of his own; likewise each member of the house. The 
assistant doorkeeper of the senate keeps a register of the 
seats in the senate chamber. When a senator desires to 
change his seat, he files a written notice with the assistant 
doorkeeper, stating what seat he desires, when it becomes 
vacant. The assistant doorkeeper notes the day, the hour, 
the minute, the application is filed, and when the seat 
becomes vacant, it is assigned to the senator whose appli- 
cation was first made. Occasionally, on account of age or 
physical infirmity, seats are awarded by preference. A 
senator usually occupies the same seat during his entire 
term of service. To the right of the Vice-President's desk is 



GOVEBNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES 73 

the Democratic side of the chamber, and to the left is the 
Republican side. 

As the presiding officer of the senate, the Vice-President 
has great power over the proceedings of that body. All 
communications sent by the President to the senate, or 
from the house of representatives, or of any person who 
communicates with the senate, are received by him. By 
virtue of his office, he directs the order of business, and 
while he does not participate in debate, except to assign 
reasons for his opinion, he casts a deciding vote in case 
of a tie. All bills and resolutions passing the senate he 
signs officially. 

The Senate. The senate, like the house of representa- 
tives, is composed of members and officers. Should the 
Vice-President be absent, and pending the election of a 
president, pro tempore, the secretary of the senate, or, in 
his absence, the chief clerk, presides. There are numer- 
ous officers to assist the senators in the transaction of 
business. The number of such officers and their election 
is left to the senate. The standing committees of the 
senate are made up in the following manner : the senate 
proceeds by ballot to select a chairman of each committee. 
A majority of all the votes cast is necessary to a choice, 
but the other members may be elected by a plurality vote. 
All other committees, unless otherwise ordered, are chosen 
by ballot. 

Business in the Senate. A majority of the members of 
each house constitutes a quorum for the transaction of 
general business. The senate is always an organized body. 
The opening of the daily sessions is conducted in the fol- 
lowing manner: The presiding officer having taken his 
seat, a quorum being present, the journal of the previous 
day is read and approved. To dispense with the reading 
of the journal requires unanimous consent. AVhen the 



74 THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

reading of the journal is concluded, the presiding officer 
lays before the senate the business, in an established 
order : Messages from the President ; reports and commu- 
nications from heads of departments, addressed to the 
senate; bills, joint resolutions, and such other messages 
from the house of representatives as may remain upon 
the table, are disposed of, from the previous day's session. 
These matters having been disposed of, the following 
order is observed: The presentation of petitions and 
memorials; reports of standing and select committees'; 
the introduction of bills and joint resolutions, concurrent 
and other resolutions. It is regarded as being out of order 
for a senator to ask, during the presentation of any of 
the foregoing matters, for their consideration, unless 
unanimous consent is obtained. The foregoing order is 
known as the "Morning Business" in the senate. After 
it is completed, the senate proceeds to the consideration of 
the "Calendar" until two o'clock, except in cases of 
special orders. During the time the calendar of bills is 
under consideration, bills and resolutions not objected to 
are taken in their order, and each senator is entitled to 
speak once, and for five minutes, on such measures. 

General Orders. Later in the day, the Calendar of 
"General Orders" is taken up and proceeded with in 
its order. All special orders are fixed by the senate by 
a two-thirds vote of the senators present, and when the 
time arrives for the consideration of such special orders, 
the presiding officer must lay it before the senate, unless 
there be unfinished business of the preceding day. If 
special orders are not disposed of at the date fixed for 
their consideration, they take their places on the calendar 
of special orders, unless, by adjournment, they become 
unfinished business. 

When a senator presents a petition, he explains briefly 



GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES 75 

its purport, and asks that it be referred to the appropriate 
committee ; but when a bill is offered, it is carried by a 
page to the clerk's desk; the title is read, and it is 
referred to the proper committee by the presiding officer, 
unless the senate, by a vote, gives a specific reference. 
All bills and resolutions are numbered, printed, and are 
laid upon the desks of the members, and these numbers 
begin anew with each session of congress. Each house 
numbers its bills and resolutions seriatim. 

Senate Committees. The business of the senate, like 
that of all other legislative bodies, is conducted almost 
entirely by committees. There are more than forty diff- 
erent "standing committees." These committees usually 
consist of either seven or nine members. 

Standing Rules. The Senate of the United States has 
adopted a set of rules for conducting its business. These 
rules state specifically the duties and responsibilities 
of the senators, how the business must be conducted, the 
rules of order, the presentation of bills, resolutions, pe- 
titions, papers, conferences with committees from the 
house, sessions with closed doors, executive sessions, and 
such other matters as properly come before such a body. 

To suspend, modify, or amend any rule, or any part 
thereof, shall be in order, provided one day's notice in 
writing has been given specifying precisely the rule or 
part of the rule proposed to be suspended, modified, or 
amended, and the purpose thereof. By unanimous con- 
sent all rules may be suspended, unless specifically 
excepted. 

The House in Session. On the day fixed for the first 
meeting of a congress, the representatives-elect in the 
hall of the house of representatives, at the hour of 12 m., 
are called to order by the clerk of the last house. The 
roll of members and delegates are called by states in 



76 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

alphabetical order. Upon the completion of the roll, the 
clerk announces the result, and if a quorum be present, 
that fact is stated in due form, and the first thing in 
order is a motion looking to the organization of the 
house by the election of its officers. A motion is now 
made that the house proceed to the election of a speaker 

to preside over its deliberations during the congress. 

Nominations are now declared to be in order. When the 
nominations are closed, the clerk requests four members 
to act as tellers as the rules require that the election of 
a speaker shall be viva voce. The roll is called alpha- 
betically, but not by states. When the tally is presented 
the clerk reports that they agree and he states the result. 
If a candidate has received a majority of all the votes 
cast, the clerk announces the fact and declares that the 
person having received a majority of all the votes cast 

is duly elected speaker of the house of the congress. 

Whereupon the clerk designates two members to conduct 
the speaker to the chair. The member of the house hav- 
ing served longest, continuously, administers the oath to 
the speaker. Unless a special message be now received 
from the president of the senate, the speaker announces 
that the next business in order is the completion of the 
organization of the house by the selection of the clerk 
and other officers. It is customary for a member to 
move the adoption of a resolution to complete the orga- 
nization of the house containing the names of the caucus 
nominees for the offices to be filled. This resolution in- 
cludes the clerk, sergeant-at-arms, doorkeeper, post- 
master, and chaplain. The speaker of the house admin- 
isters the oath to the officers chosen. 

Notification is now sent to the senate that a quorum 
of the house of representatives has assembled and elected 
a speaker and a clerk, and that the house is ready to 



GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES 77 

proceed to business. A joint committee from the house 
and the senate now wait on the President to notify him 
that a quorum of the two houses has assembled, and that 
congress is ready to receive any communication he may 
be pleased to make. 

Committees of the House. The organization of the 
house is not complete till the appointment of the stand- 
ing and select committees. This requires several days, 
during which time the house meets and adjourns from 
day to day. Standing and special committees are ap- 
pointed by the speaker of the house, while special com- 
mittees are appointed by a resolution adopted by the 
house. At the beginning of the last century the number of 
standing committees was seven, and the number is now 
not far from fifty. The number of members of a com- 
mittee varies from three to seventeen, usually fifteen, 
thirteen or nine. If a committee be created for a special 
purpose it can not consider any other matter without 
additional authority being conferred upon it. 

Committees at Work. No one can obtain a clear idea 
of the working methods of the Congress of the United 
States without knowing what the committees do. Out- 
siders have no real comprehension of the amount and 
the character of the work actually done by committees 
and of which no record is made. It is not an uncommon 
thing for twenty-five or thirty thousand original propo- 
sitions to be submitted to the house of representatives 
during a session, for consideration, under the forms of 
messages, bills, resolutions, petitions and memorials. To 
dispose of such a volume of business, it is necessary for 
the members of the house to be divided into a large 
number of standing and select committees, and then to 
still further divide these into sub-committees. The 
measures are distributed to the standing and select com- 



78 THE DESIEABLE CITIZEN 

mittees first, and thence to more than two hundred sub- 
committees. Thus it will be seen that the method of busi- 
ness adopted by our system of government is that of gov- 
ernment by committees. It is only in the committee room 
that the inside history of any measure is best known. 
Very little of this history is ever known on the outside, 
or is made known, unless some member chooses to tell 
it after he is out of office. 

How Committees Are Organized. Every member of the 
house serves on some committee; some are members of 
several committees. A majority of the members of a 
committee belong to the dominant party in power. In 
the making up of a committee, the first named member 
is chairman. Each standing or select committee has a 
clerk appointed by the chairman. Every bill or commu- 
nication presented to congress must be referred to some 
committee, unless otherwise ordered. The jurisdiction 
of each committee is fixed by a rule of the house. The 
committee work is secret, but when measures of great 
importance are being considered, persons interested are 
permitted to appear before a committee having charge 
of the measure and present their views for or against 
the measure. The committee is not required to report 
the names or number of persons who have appeared before 
it. "When a committee has decided upon a report, the 
chairman designates some member of the committee to 
prepare a written report. It is then submitted to the 
committee for their approval, and if it is approved by 
a majority it stands as their report. The first report 
is usually a report from a sub-committee, and its report 
is submitted to the full committee for consideration. The 
deliberation of the full committee is then reported to 
the house. The house now disposes of the measure as 




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GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES 79 

it deems appropriate. It is the practice of the house 
that all bills, petitions, memorials, or resolutions re- 
ported from a committee shall be in writing and then 
printed. The action of a committee is not always unani- 
mous. A minority may dissent from the opinion of the 
majority, and as a minority of a committee can not make 
a report, it has been the practice for the minority to 
append their views to the majority report in order to 
have any standing in the house. The majority report 
is not signed, but stands as the action of the committee. 
The dissenting views of the minority may be expressed 
collectively or singly. 

All business before committees of both houses at the 
end of one session must be resumed at the commencement 
of the next session of the same congress, as if no adjourn- 
ment had occurred. 

Committee of the Whole. This committee is larger and 
more comprehensive than all the other committees. It 
is the whole house acting as a committee presided over 
by a chairman instead of the Speaker. The purpose of 
this committee is to receive and revise matters reported 
from the different standing committees, by giving prom- 
inence to bills for raising taxes and general appropria- 
tions. In committee of the whole greater opportunity is 
afforded for discussion of measures than could be other- 
wise accomplished under the ordinary rules of parlia- 
mentary practice. TVhen on motion the house resolves 
itself into a committee of the whole, the Speaker appoints 
a chairman to preside, and he vacates the chair. The 
house by vote determines what the order of business shall 
be in committee of the whole. Should this order not be 
decided by the house, the business on the calendar may 
be taken up in regular order. 



80 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

What does the United States include? Repeat the preamble to 
the constitution. How many departments of government does the 
constitution provide for? How are heads of the President's 
Cabinet provided for? How are congressmen elected? How are 
United States senators chosen? What are the qualifications of a 
senator? Who is the presiding officer of the senate? What salary 
does he receive? What salary does the Speaker of the house receive? 

If a bill originates in the house and passes that body by the 
necessary majority after the third reading, how may it become a 
law? Suppose it fails in the senate, or it is amended there, what 
is the next step? When does a bill reach the President for his 
signature? How often is a bill called up in the house before it 
is put on its passage? What does this mean? Must all bills 
originate in the house? What is meant by a t{ conference " be- 
tween the two houses? Who gives a congressman his certificate 
of election ? Did you ever see one? 

Is the United States senate ever unorganized? How often is the 
house of representatives organized? What is understood by the 
adjournment of congress? Why is it necessary to have many 
committees in both houses of congress? How is the senate called 
to order? The house of representatives? When does the Speaker 
not call the house to order? What is meant by a quorum? A 
majority? What is meant by a committee at work? What is the 
report of a committee? If a member of congress wants to speak 
when he gets up, what does he say in order to be recognized? 
Why is there a necessity for a committee of the whole? 

Can any member introduce a resolution, a bill, a petition, or a 
memorial? What is done with it when first introduced? Does 
he read it or have it read? What do you understand by the first, 
second and third reading of a bill? Before a bill that originates 
in either house can be sent to the President for his signature, 
what must have been agreed to? What duties does a chaplain of 
the senate or house perform? Does he have the right of debate? 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE EXECUTIVE DEPAETMENT 

Power Vested in a President. The constitution says: 
"The executive power shall be vested in a President of 
the United States of America. He shall hold his office 
during the term of four years, and together with the 
Vice-President chosen for the same term be elected. 
The President and Vice-President are elected by electors 
appointed by each state in the following manner: Each 
political party meets in each state in a convention during 
the earlier part of the year that a President is to be 
elected, and appoints delegates to a national convention 
of its party, called by its national committee. The 
delegates from all the states assemble in a national con- 
vention later in the year, and nominate candidates for 
President and Vice-President. A party platform is 
adopted setting forth the principles of the party. These 
party platforms are never taken very seriously by intelli- 
gent voters who are accustomed to look beneath their 
vote-catching qualities. The President and Vice-Presi- 
dent are voted for indirectly on the day of the Presiden- 
tial election throughout the United States. Each state 
is entitled to as many presidential electors as the state 
has United States senators and congressmen. The presi- 
dential electors receiving the highest number of votes 
are entitled to cast the vote of the state for President 
and Vice-President. If one of the presidential candidates 
receives a majority of all the electoral votes cast through- 
out the United States, he is elected President ; otherwise, 

81 



82 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

the house of representatives elects the President and 
the senate elects the Vice-President. 

The Popular Vote. The total vote cast indirectly for 
President and Vice-President is called the popular vote, 
while the vote cast directly for them by the electoral col- 
lege is the electoral vote. Occasionally it has happened 
that a candidate has been elected President without 
receiving a majority of all the votes cast, but he had a 
majority of the electoral votes. The presidential election 
is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in 
November of the "Presidential year." He takes his oath 
of office on the fourth of March following his election. 

The President-elect receives no certificate or notice of 
election. He simply takes notice himself, and goes to 
Washington a few days in advance of his inauguration. 
He calls upon the President, and the latter returns the 
call within the hour. On the 4th of March, the President- 
elect is escorted by a committee having the matter in 
charge, to the executive mansion, where he joins the Presi- 
dent, and entering his carriage, is driven with him to the 
capitol. The President and the President-elect walk out 
of the capitol arm-in-arm and stand on a platform erec- 
ted on the east front of the capitol, where in the presence 
of a great concourse of people the oath of office is ad- 
ministered to him by the Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court. It is as follows : "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the 
United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, 
protect, and defend the constitution of the United 
States." At the conclusion of this oath, the President 
kisses an open page of the Bible. He then takes his 
inaugural address from the breast pocket of his coat and 
reads it. This address is hardly a state paper, and yet 
it may be such in foreshadowing the policy of the incom- 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPAETMENT 83 

ing administration. When the ceremony is concluded, 
the President and ex-President take their places in the 
carriage, and are driven to the executive mansion where 
the wife of the President joins him. They are now received 
by the wife of the ex-President, or by the lady who 
occupies her place. The ex-President now, withdraws, 
and the President goes to the receiving stand on the 
avenue in front of the executive mansion. Here he 
stands for several hours as if reviewing the procession as 
it passes. In inclement weather this is a dreary enough 
performance. 

In case of the death of the President, the oath of office 
is administered to the Vice-President without the usual 
formalities, and he enters upon the duties of his office 
at once. If congress is in session, he takes the oath of 
office in joint session at an hour specified for that 
purpose. 

Duties of the President. It is the chief duty of the 
President to see that the laws which congress has passed 
shall be faithfully executed. In the strictest sense, an 
executive is one who executes or does certain things, or 
who sees that they are done. No laws are self-executory. 
The thing to be executed or enforced is a law as it is, 
and not the whim or caprice of the one who is to carry 
the law into effect. It is a physical impossibility for the 
President to attend to all the infringements of the laws 
that may occur in connection with the various kinds 
of business that the government carries on. By virtue 
of his office, the President is commander in chief of the 
army and navy of the United States, and of the militia 
of the several states, when called into actual service of 
the United States. Under the same clause of the consti- 
tution, he may require the opinion in writing of the prin- 
cipal officer in each of the executive departments, upon 



84 THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

any subject relating to the duties of his respective de- 
partment. But to understand clearly the authority in- 
vested in the President of the United States the pupil 
is referred to Article II. , Constitution of the United States 
of America. 

Presidential Advisers. To aid him in his official 
duties, the administration of the business is conducted 
through executive departments. The departments are 
nine in number, as follows, in the order of their orga- 
nization: The Department of State, July 27, 1789; the 
Department of the Treasury, Sept. 2, 1789; the Depart- 
ment of "War, Aug. 7, 1789; the Postoffice Department 
since 1829, although dating back to colonial times; the 
Navy Department, April 30, 1798; the Interior Depart- 
ment, Mar. 3, 1849 ; the Department of Justice, June 22, 
1870 ; but there has been an attorney-general since 1789. 
The Department of Agriculture, Feb. 9, 1889 ; the depart- 
ment of Commerce and Labor, Feb. 14, 1903. The heads 
of the departments are selected by the President, and 
they constitute his cabinet. They are spoken of as 
secretaries, — as the Secretary of State, the Secretary of 
the Treasury, and so forth. Cabinet meetings are held 
at the executive mansion twice each week, at which 
meetings measures and policies are outlined and discussed 
relating to public and international questions. These 
meetings are for the purpose of comparing opinions, but 
after all, the President may set aside the views held by 
a majority of his cabinet and act upon his own judgment. 
This contingency is not likely to arise, although it is not 
an uncommon thing for clear-thinking and earnest men 
to draw opposite conclusions from the same statement of 
facts. Yet the President is solely responsible for the 
policy represented by him during his administration. 
Each secretary has charge of that part of the public 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 85 

business assigned to him by law. In important matters 
pertaining to his department each consults with the Presi- 
dent. The President knows, or is supposed to know, every 
important thing that is going on in each department; 
but routine matters proceed without the knowledge or 
the interference of the President. Only questions of far- 
reaching influence are usually discussed by the President 
and his cabinet at their meetings, but any secretary that 
is desirous of having the opinion of the other members 
of the cabinet upon any question pertaining to his depart- 
ment, may present the matter for discussion. The general 
plan, however, is for the President and the secretary of 
the department to confer and to decide upon a line of 
action. The discussions between the President and the 
members of his cabinet are those among equals, and the 
decision, however arrived at, receives the hearty approval 
of all, unless the differences are unreconcilable. In gen- 
eral, it is an agreement reached by concessions. But if 
a cabinet officer cannot agree with views held by the 
President, then the cabinet officer should hand his resig- 
nation to the President. 

Department of State. The head of the President's cabi- 
net is the secretary of state, and corresponds to the 
department of foreign affairs in other countries. He is 
the mouthpiece of the President in communicating the 
wishes of the President to other governments and to the 
governors of the states of the United States. He keeps 
the seal of the United States, and he affixes it to all docu- 
ments signed by the President. He conducts all cor- 
respondence with foreign ministers of other countries and 
with the ministers and consuls of the United States 
stationed in foreign countries. All treaties, negotiations, 
and other foreign affairs are conducted through his office. 
He advises our ministers and consuls in other countries 



85 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

as to the policy of the home government, and they keep 
him informed as to the temper of the people among whom 
they reside, in reference to this country. The secretary 
of state ought to be as tactful, resourceful, and pleasant 
a man, well informed on all the broader and profounder 
questions of international statesmanship, as a political 
party has in its ranks. 

The work of the department is so extensive that it is 
distributed into several bureaus. 

Department of the Treasury. This department is for 
home duties exclusively. It has to do with the entire 
financial system of the country. The treasurer is a busi- 
ness man of profound financial sagacity, or one who 
knows how to manage the business . affairs of a great 
nation. His power is felt throughout the entire financial 
system of the United States. He devises and submits 
plans for raising the revenue, collects it and disburses 
it under law. All acounts in all the departments must 
be examined and verified. All this work, too, is con- 
ducted through the auditors, comptrollers, treasurer, reg- 
ister, commissioner of customs, commissioner of internal 
revenue, comptroller of the currency, chief of the bureau 
of statistics, and director of the mint. The bureau of 
engraving and printing prints notes, bonds, postage 
stamps, etc. 

To give some idea of the extent of the work carried 
on in the Treasury Department, a force of more than 
twenty thousand persons is employed. The Treasury 
Department may very properly be regarded as a great 
banking institution run on business principles. 

Beset With Callers. The President and the cabinet 
officers are frequently so interrupted by callers that pub- 
lic business is seriously interfered with and often actually 
delayed. From the fragments of time snatched between 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPAETMENT 87 

calls and other interruptions, the cabinet officer has to 
study over, and work out the various problems of his 
office as they come to him from day to day. His duties 
are numerous and exacting, and if he conducts the 
business of his department successfully, he is entitled to 
great credit. 

Office Seekers. At the time of the inauguration of a 
President and the formation of his cabinet, Washington 
is crowded with a great army of office seekers who have 
flocked there to receive appointments. They want po- 
sitions in the departments or in the foreign service, and 
they bring all the influence they can command to accom- 
plish the result. There are appointments, chiefly of a 
clerical nature, that the heads of departments are author- 
ized to make. Persistent applicants frequently implore 
the President to use his influence in their behalf. He 
always declines to do so. Under the extension of the 
civil service rules, the number of appointive positions 
becomes less each year. There are enough vacancies of 
different kinds each year to occupy a large part of the 
President's time. 

Frequently the appointment of a postmaster in a city 
or a town may divide the citizens into two or more 
hostile factions in the same party, and the dissension 
may be carried to Washington for settlement. In such 
cases the President or the head of the department is 
forced to consult various persons in regard to the local 
situation, with reference to the political effect the ap- 
pointment will have on solidifying the party. The 
position to be filled may be of such a character that the 
President consults the congressman of that district, if the 
congressman and the President agree politically. If the 
President does not consult the congressman, both being 
of the same political party, there is trouble. In such 



88 THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

congressional districts as are represented by congressmen 
holding opposite political opinions, the President consults 
with the senators, or with influential citizens. The sen- 
ators of the same political faith frequently make up lists 
of men whom they urge the President to appoint. Unless 
there be serious reasons to the contrary, the President 
appoints such applicants. This is a delicate and some- 
times a very troublesome question. The President may 
find the applicant recommended by a senator to be unfit 
for the position, and since every appointment has to be 
confirmed by the senate, out of senatorial courtesy, the 
senate may refuse to confirm the person nominated by 
the President, because the senator objects to the nomina- 
tion made by the President. Some senators claim the 
right to select and to consent. 

Appointments Are Usually Good. While this practice 
has grown into a custom, nevertheless, it is evident that 
the senate's authority does extend to the character and 
the fitness of the applicant for the position he aspires to 
fill. If a candidate is very objectionable, the fact is 
likely to be brought out before the appointment is made. 
It must be admitted, all things considered, that the Presi- 
dent usually makes good appointments, and especially is 
this true where all the citizens of a city or a town, irre- 
spective of political affiliations, join in a petition im- 
ploring the President to appoint a certain person to a 
certain office. 

There are so many more applicants for positions than 
there are places to be filled, that naturally a great many 
are disappointed, and they become soured, and seek relief 
in abusing the President. The "outs" become hostile. 
The only offset the President has is the satisfaction of 
his conscience in that he has preserved the efficiency of 
the public service. The President in the discharge of his 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 89 

duties needs the support of both houses of congress, and 
however much he may try to make his administration a 
satisfactory one to the* whole people, if either, or both 
houses of congress is hostile, he can accomplish little 
beyond seeing that the laws are faithfully executed. 

A Host of Appointees. The number of federal office- 
holders amounts to 411,322. Of this number the Presi- 
dent appoints, by and with the advice and consent of 
the senate, only 9,846. There are under civil service 
rules 262,608, of which the postoffice department has 
147,727. The treasury department has 27,093; the war 
department, exclusive of officers and enlisted men of the 
army, 28,102; the department of justice, 5,700; the de- 
partment of agriculture, 12,519 ; the department of the 
interior, 14,262; the department of commerce and labor, 
14,797 ; the government printing office, 3,925 ; the inter- 
state commerce commission, 614; and the Smithsonian 
Institution, 424. The President has 993 appointments 
which do not require the consent of the senate, and 846 
of them are in the department of justice. 



CHAPTER IX 

CHECKS AND BALANCES 

Passing Laws. Thus far two departments of our gov- 
ernment have been sketched, the legislative and the exec- 
utive. For a bill to become a law it has to be introduced, 
referred, pass through the first and second readings, as 
they are called, and then put upon its passage in the house 
or senate where it originates. The language of the con- 
stitution is: "Every bill which shall have passed the 
house of representatives and the senate, shall, before it 
become a law, be presented to the President of the United 
States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not, he shall 
return it with his objections to that house in which it 
shall have originated, which shall enter the objections 
at large on its journal, and proceed to reconsider it. 
If after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house 
shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with 
the objections, to the other house, by which it shall like- 
wise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of 
that house it shall become a law. But in all such cases 
the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and 
nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against 
the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house 
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the 
President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it 
shall be presented to him, the same shall be a law, in 
like manner as if he had signed it, unless the congress 
by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case 
it shall not be a law." 

90 



CHECKS AND BALANCES 91 

President Must Approve. Every order, resolution, or 
vote to which the concurrence of the senate and house of 
representatives may be necessary (except on a question 
of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of 
the United States ; and before the same shall take effect, 
shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, 
shall be repassed by two-thirds of the senate and house of 
representatives, according to the rules and limitations 
prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Purpose of the Veto. The veto power of the President 
of the United States is to prevent hasty and inconsiderate 
action on the part of congress, but if both houses shall 
pass a bill by the necessary majority over the President's 
veto, it is more than probable that the temper of the 
people would sustain the action of congress. In sum- 
ming up this matter, Judge Story says: "All the checks, 
which human ingenuity has been able to devise, or at 
least, which, with reference to our habits, our institu- 
tions, and our diversities of local interests, seem practi- 
cable, to give perfect operation to the machinery, to ad- 
just its movements, to prevent its eccentricities, and to 
balance its forces ; all these have been introduced, with 
singular skill, ingenuity, and wisdom, into the arrange- 
ment. " 

Revenue. To the house of representatives belongs the 
power to originate bills for meeting the expenses of the 
national government Section VIII, paragraph 1, reads 
as follows: "All bills for raising revenue shall 
originate in the house of representatives ; but the senate 
may propose or concur with amendments as on other 
bills." From this it is evident that a bill for raising 
revenue must first originate in the house, but it may be 
so amended in the senate as to constitute it a new bill. 



92 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

To determine the amount of revenue necessary to meet 
all the expenditures of the government, the secretary of 
the treasury collects information from all the other de- 
partments, the several amounts of money that will be 
needed in each department, and these, with what his 
department requires, are compiled in a book of estimates 
which is printed and distributed at the beginning of each 
regular session. These estimates form the basis for the 
appropriations. The revenue bills in the house are man- 
aged by the committee on ways and means, and in the 
senate by the finance committee. "While the committees 
are guided somewhat by the recommendations made by 
the secretary of the treasury, yet the actual appropria- 
tions are usually much below the estimates. When the 
appropriations fall too far below current expenses, a 
deficiency bill the next session is passed to supply the 
deficit. 

Scope of Congressional Legislation. The congress of 
the United States can legislate on all subjects pertaining 
to the welfare of the people except on such matters as 
are prohibited. The constitution enumerates under Ar- 
ticle I, Section VIII, seventeen different things congress 
has power to do; under Section IX, the same Article, 
seven things congress is prohibited from doing ; and under 
Section X. three different things a state can not do. 

The following summaries will make this clearer. Con- 
gress has power 

1. To levy and collect taxes. 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States. 

3. To regulate commerce. 

4. To establish a uniform ride of naturalization, and 

uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcy in the 
United States. 



CHECKS AND BALANCES 93 

5. To coin money and regulate the value thereof. 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the 

securities and coin of the United States. 

7. To establish post-offices and post-roads. 

8. To promote the progress of science and the useful 

arts. 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme 
court. 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies on the 

high seas. 4 

11. To declare war. 

12. To raise and support armies. 

13. To provide and maintain a navy. 

14. To provide for calling forth the militia. 

15. To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining 

the militia ivhen in the service of the United 
% States. 

16. To exercise exclusive legislation over the District 

of Columbia. 

17. To make all the laivs necessary for carrying into 

execution the foregoing poivers. 

Things Congress May Do 

1. Congress may determine the time of choosing the 

electors for President and Vice-President of the 
United States. 

2. Congress may, by law, provide for the case of re- 

moval, death, resignation, or inability of both the 
President and Vice-President, declaring ivhat of- 
ficer shall then act as President. 
Remark. Since the President and Vice-President are 
both liable to die during the term for which they are 
elected, under the old law the president pro tempore of 



94 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

the senate and the speaker of the house would succeed them 
if the offices should become vacant. In 1886 a law was passed 
which provides that in case of the death or disability of the 
President and Vice-President, the law of succession shall 
be as follows : Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, 
Secretary of War, Attorney General, Post Master General, 
Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Interior. This 
scheme of succession is based upon the hypothesis that the 
secretary would be most likely to carry out the policy of 
the Prfsident; whereas, the Speaker of the house might 
be of the opposite political party and not in harmony with 
the views of the administration. 

3. Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of such 

inferior officers as they think proper, in the Presi- 
dent, in the courts of law, or in the heads of de- 
partments. 

4. Congress shall have power to declare the punishment 

of treason. 

5. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to 

the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings 
of every other state. Congress may, by general 
laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, rec- 
ords, and, proceedings shall be proved. 

6. New states may be admitted by congress into this 

Union. No new state shall be formed or erected 
within the jurisdiction of any other state, nor any 
state be formed by the junction of two or more 
states, or. parts of states, without the consent of the 
legislatures of the states concerned, as well as of 
the congress. 

7. Congress shall have power to dispose of, and to make 

all needful rules and regulations respecting the 



CHECKS AND BALANCES 95 

territory or other property belonging to the United 
States. 
8. Congress has power to enforce, by appropriate legis- 
lation, all provisions of the constitution, and, un- 
der the general welfare clause, such implied powers 
as are not directly expressed in the constitution. 

Things Congress May Not Do. 

1. Congress cannot suspend the privilege of the ivrit of 

habeas corpus unless, in case of rebellion or in- 
vasion, the public safety may require it. 

2. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be 

passed by congress. 

3. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from 

any state. 

4. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in 

consequence of appropriations by law. 

5. No title of nobility shall be granted by the Unit-ed 

States, and no person holding any office of profit 
or trust under them shall, ivithout the assent of 
congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, 
or title of any kind whatsoever, from any king, 
prince, or foreign state. 

6. Congress shall make no law respecting the establish- 

ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof ; or abridging the freedom of speech or of 
the press; or the right of the people peaceably to 
assemble and to petition the government for a 
redress of grievances. 
7. The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized, by law, including debts incurred for 
payment of pensions and bounties for services in 
suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be 
questioned. 



96 THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

Some Things a State Cannot Do. 

1. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con- 

federation; grant letters of marque and reprisals- 
coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything 
but gold and silver com a tender in payment of 
debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, 
or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or 
grant any title of nobility. 

2. No state shall, ivithout the consent of the congress, 

lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, 
except ivhat may be absolutely necessary for exe- 
cuting its inspection laws; and the net produce of 
all duties and imposts, laid by any state on im- 
ports or exports, shall be for the use of the treas- 
ury of the United States; and all such laws shall 
be subject to the revision and control of the con- 
gress. 

3. No state shall, without the consent of congress, lay 

any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war 
in time of peace, enter into any agreement or com- 
pact with another state, or with a foreign power, 
or engage in ivar, unless actually invaded, or in 
such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

1. Explain how a President is elected. 

(a) What are the qualifications of a President? 

(b) Enumerate five duties he performs. 

(c) What is understood by the veto power? 

(d) How many electoral votes has the state in which you live? 

2. Name the executive departments and define the chief duties 

of each. 

3. Why does the President select the members of his cabinet from 

members of his party? 

4. How was the postmaster of your postofnce appointed? Why do 



CHECKS AND BALANCES 97 

congressmen and senators want to have something to say 
about the appointments in their district and state? 

5. How is a law passed that the President signs, and how may 

one be passed that he vetoes? 

6. Name six things Congress may do. One thing congress is pro- 

hibited from doing. 

7. Name two things a state can not do, and give a reason for 

your answers. 



CHAPTER X 

THE JUDICIARY 

The Judicial Power. Article III, Section 1, Constitu- 
tion of the United States is as follows: — "The judicial 
power of the United States shall be vested in one Su- 
preme Court, and in such inferior courts as the congress 
may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, 
both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their 
offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, 
receive for their services a compensation which shall not 
be diminished during their continuance in office." 

An Independent Department. At the time of the fram- 
ing of the Constitution of the United States, the sentiment 
was strong in the convention that the judiciary ought to 
be an independent co-ordinate department of the national 
government, and this view has been held ever since by 
the clearest-headed statesmen. Unless there be an in- 
dependent judiciary, as as essential element of govern- 
ment, to protect the property and the civil and religious 
liberties of all the people, neither life nor property can be 
deemed to be secure. In an orderly and right-minded 
community each can regard himself as secure in all his 
rights as a citizen, but unfortunately such communities 
are exceptions to the general rule. Differences of various 
kinds arise, and resort is had to courts of law.. The 
Supreme and inferior courts are higher tribunals than the 
state courts, and their establishment is for the purpose of 
determining differences, passing judgments, and issuing 
mandates which must be enforced. 

98 



THE JUDICIAKY 99 

No Appeal from the Supreme Court. The government 
that enacts laws must have its own courts to interpret its 
laws whenever they are brought into controversy, and to 
test them by the constitution or by the laws made in 
pursuance thereof. The constitution is the supreme law 
and the Supreme Court is the highest court in this coun- 
try. Every law enacted by congress, every state consti- 
tution, and every state law, may be tested as to its validity 
when properly brought before the Supreme Court of the 
United States. Its decisions are final. But the Supreme 
Court never passes upon a statute, or a case, till it is 
brought regularly before it. There are obvious reasons 
for this. If the state courts should assume to decide upon 
the constitutionality of those higher issues, the conflicts 
of opinions would be innumerable, and introduce confu- 
sion to such an extent as would unhinge the stability of 
our government. A state court would hardly be a com- 
petent tribunal to sit in judgment when its own laws 
would be in conflict with the constitution or laws of the 
United States, while it would be entirely competent to 
decide whether an enactment of their state legislature 
was in conflict with their state constitution. 

The United States courts are divided as follows, be- 
ginning at the top : 

One Supreme Court, which holds all its sessions in 
Washington, nine circuit courts of appeals, nine circuit 
courts, eighty-three district courts, and the court of 
claims. 

The Organization of These Courts. The Supreme Court 
consists of nine men, one designated as the chief justice 
and eight associate justices. These are appointed by the 
President and confirmed by the senate. They are ap- 
pointed for life, as are all the federal judges of the inferior 
courts. They can be removed when impeached for mis- 



100 THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

behavior, by the house, and found guilty by a two-thirds 
vote of the senate. The Supreme Court holds its session 
in the Supreme Court room in the Capitol at Washington, 
beginning in October, and six judges, at least, are present 
before a decision is announced. When a case is tried be- 
fore the Supreme Court, the judges talk it over, and one 
is assigned by the chief justice to write the decision. The 
opinion is now r read in the presence of all the others, and 
if they agree to it, it is accepted and becomes the decision. 
Should there be a difference, as frequently happens, a 
dissenting opinion is rendered also. 

Court of Appeals. Each justice of the Supreme Court 
is assigned to a particular circuit in which he must hold 
court once in every two years. In addition, he may have 
to serve in the circuit court of appeals. This court was 
created in 1891 to relieve the Supreme Court docket of its 
appellate business. All appealed cases from the district 
or circuit courts, not taken to the Supreme Court, are 
tried in the appellate court. In some cases the decisions 
are final, but in others, by an appeal or writ of error, the 
decision may be carried to the Supreme Court for final 
adjudication. 

Circuit Courts. There are nine circuits to which two, 
three or four judges are appointed, and they may hold 
court separately or together. The number of circuits 
corresponds to the number of justices of the Supreme 
Court, and one of the judges is assigned to each circuit. 
A circuit judge, a district judge or a justice of the Su- 
preme Court may hold court, each sitting alone, or to- 
gether, as may be convenient. When the supreme judge 
is present he presides; but a district judge holds circuit 
court only within his own district. 

Court of Claims. This court was created in 1855 for 
the purpose of determining the amount of money due 



THE JUDICIARY 101 

persons who had claims, or believed they had legitimate 
claims against the Government of the United States. This 
court is composed of six judges who hold sessions in 
AVashington. Since the United States cannot be sued, 
persons having claims against the national government 
present them to this court. This court inquires into each 
claim and reports its finding to congress. Any award for 
the claimant is passed upon by congress. This court is a 
sort of judicial commission or board of arbitration. It 
also exercises a civil and a criminal jurisdiction over the 
District of Columbia. 

Remark. There are three inferior courts which need 
not be discussed in this connection: (a) territorial courts; 
(b) court of private land claims arising out of treaties 
made with Mexico in 1848 and 1853; (c) consular courts. 

Salaries of Judges. The chief justice receives $13,000 
per annum, and each associate justice $12,000 per annum ; 
circuit judge of the appellate court $7,000 per annum ; 
circuit judge $7,000 per annum ; district judge $6,000 per 
annum ; judge of the court of claims $6,000 per annum. 

The judges of the United States courts have been and 
are now, with few exceptions, men of high legal ability 
and of excellent personal worth. Ex-President Benjamin 
Harrison said: "The judicial department is the ' key- 
stone' of our government, and assaults upon it threaten 
the whole structure of the stately arch." 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Who are the Judges of the Supreme Court at this time? How 
many judges of the District Court are there? What is meant by 
a judicial circuit court? Can you name the persons who have been 
the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court? What* is meant by 
appealing a case from a District or Circuit Court to the Supreme 
Court? How are judges of the United States courts appointed? 
How are they confirmed? If a person robs a postonice, in what 



102 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

court would he be tried, if caught? If a man steals your watch, 
in what court will he be tried, if captured? When is a law 
declared to be unconstitutional? How is a claim against the 
National Government disposed of? If a Federal Judge decides 
to retire at the age of seventy years, will he still receive his 
salary? 



CHAPTER XI 

RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS 

Individual Rights. So far we have learned in a general 
way something concerning the different kinds of govern- 
ment under which the people of our country live, but 
this knowledge, as valuable as it is, does not treat, except 
incidentally, of the rights and duties of the citizens them- 
selves. In organized society men have to deal with one 
another. Our statute laws deal with the overt acts of 
men, while moral law takes cognizance of their motives. 
It has been very justly said that courts of law are not 
always courts of conscience. The law herein spoken of is 
municipal law which prescribes certain rules regulating 
responsible conduct. These laws relate to the protection 
of our persons, to the protection of our property, and to 
the protection of our reputation. The entire power of 
our nation acting through legislative enactments, deci- 
sions of our courts and their legal executive officers, is 
ready to enforce the laws as they stand on the statute 
books. 

Natural Rights. The object of municipal law is to pro- 
tect each one in the enjoyment of his rights and to punish 
any invasion of these rights. Eights are absolute and 
relative. An absolute right belongs to an individual in 
a single unconnected state, and a relative right is one 
that arises from civil and domestic relations of man in 
society. Absolute rights are sometimes called natural 
rights, and are usually spoken of as the right to live ; the 
right to liberty ; the right to form the family relation ; the 

103 



104 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

right to acquire, to hold and to transfer property; the 
right to make contracts. Legal rights are such rights as 
can be enforced by legal means, that is, by actions at law 
or equity by the courts. 

Importance of Natural Rights. If we take a closer 
survey of the natural rights of a citizen, that of personal 
security is the most important of all the rights including 
the right to life, of all one 's powers of mind and body and 
the right to use them in lawful labor, — the right to pre- 
serve one's health, reputation, the freedom of speech, 
religious belief and worship, and to move from place to 
place. These rights, to a free citizen, can only terminate 
with his death. The right to life implies the right to 
preserve it, and this implies also that of self-defense. 
Each one is entitled to the preservation and the enjoy- 
ment of good health, and the state is fully justified in 
enacting and enforcing laws to protect the health of all 
its citizens. The right to one 's reputation is protected by 
the laws on libel, slander, and malicious prosecution. The 
right to acquire, hold and transfer property is the right 
of dominion, ownership and possession of property. This 
right consists in the use, the enjoyment and the disposal 
of any property that one may have without interference 
from another. Religious freedom in this country consists 
of the right to worship God in any manner, or not to 
worship at all, as one sees fit, so long as he does not com- 
mit an act against society which may be declared a crime, 
or an offense against decency. 

PROPERTY RIGHTS 

What Is Property? Property may be defined as that 
which is one's own. It includes real and personal prop- 
erty as well as mixed property. Eeal property consists 
of such things as are permanent and fixed and immovable ; 



EIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS 105 

as, lands, tenements, and hereditaments of all kinds, 
which are not annexed to the person, nor can be moved 
from place to place. Real property is usually understood 
as consisting of land and structures permanently affixed 
to the land. 

Personal Property Defined. Personal property includes 
all movable chattels and things that may attend the per- 
son of the owner wherever he goes; as, goods, money, 
jewelry, the tools of the mechanic, the library of the 
lawyer or the physician, etc. There is an intermediate 
class of property denominated mixed property which par- 
takes of the nature of both real and personal property, 
such as heirlooms, pews in a church, etc. 

TITLE TO REAL PROPERTY 

From Whom Title Is Acquired. One of the most inter- 
esting historical facts is that of showing how and from 
what sources titles to land in this country have been de- 
rived, and how they may be transferred legally from one 
person to another. Our laws are derived chiefly from the 
Roman common law and from the English law. Under 
the English law the sovereign was the original proprietor 
of all the land in the kingdom, and in the United States 
all lands that were once public lands, or are now public 
lands, when first sold or to be sold, the title is from the 
government. In all the newer states the title is traced 
back to the government as the source of highest authority. 

The different laws enacted by congress describe with 
great particularity the manner in which portions of the 
public domain may be acquired by settlers and their 
titles thereto perfected. But back of all this is a deeper 
question as to how nations acquired land. There are 
three recognized modes : By discovery, by conquest, and 
by treaty or purchase. The first civilized nations held 



106 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

that savages or barbarous peoples had no legal right to 
the soil where they live when discovered by civilized na- 
tions. None of the European nations ever recognized 
that the natives living in either North America or South 
America had any right to the land upon which they lived. 
It is true that in the early settlement of the American 
continent, Spain, Portugal, France, England and Holland 
tacitly agreed that discovery and occupancy gave title to 
the first comers against other Europeans and the Indians. 

Differently Stated. To put this in a smoother way: 
1 ' The absolute title of the Indians yielded to the military, 
intellectual and moral power of the white men. It is 
true that the Indians were allowed to occupy the land, 
but they could not dispose of it except to the government 
within whose boundaries it was situated. Little by little 
the Indians were forced back, till now the most of them 
are on reservations as wards of the nation. They are 
now, for the most part, on 'mere patches of ground' in 
various parts of the country. To an impartial observer 
it appears that our government 'has played the role of a 
cruel step-father' in its treatment of the Indians." 

After the close of the revolution, the states that claimed 
certain territory relinquished their title by ceding their 
public lands to the national government. As has been 
already mentioned, the public domain was opened to set- 
tlers on certain prescribed conditions, and when each 
settler complied with the stipulation made by the govern- 
ment he received his patent or deed from the government, 
which cannot be disputed. 

Confusion of Title in Early Days. Prior to 1785 there 
was no regular system of "land surveying" in the United 
States. Each tract was surveyed generally after a set- 
tlement had been made upon it. The settlements were 
made in the woods, along streams, and the settler would 



EIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS 107 

' j 1 . il „,*. 

" blaze out" on the trees with an axe, or a hatchet, as 
much land as he wanted, and after having a rude survey 
made describing his tract, he would have the survey or 
description put on record at the state land office. An- 
other settler might, in blazing out his tract, overlap a 
former survey, and it sometimes occurred that several 
persons would claim a part of the same tract. These rude 
attempts at surveying were patterned after the surveys 
in the older colonies. Not only were pieces of land cov- 
ered by patents of various shapes and sizes, but worse 
still, there was no end to the lawsuits that sprang out of 
these conflicting claims. 

Need of a More Definite System. In order to avoid 
confusion in the newer settlements of the northwest terri- 
tory, congress passed the land-ordinance of 1785, based 
upon the suggestions made by Thomas Jefferson, which 
resulted in our simple and excellent system of rectangular 
surveying, described in most common school arithmetics. 
The plan in brief is this: The public lands are divided 
into townships as nearly six miles square as can be made, 
and each township is divided into thirty-six sections, each 
one mile square, and a section is then divided into quarter 
sections by half mile lines, and the quarter-sections are 
subdivided by the county surveyors into four subdivisions, 
or tracts of 40 acres each. 

No one could purchase land from, the government prior 
to its being surveyed. Before 1820, the minimum price 
of public land to purchasers was $2.00 an acre. Later 
the price was reduced to $1.25, and at this price much of 
the land in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, was pur- 
chased from the government. The government made 
grants to several states and some of this land was sold 
by the states at much less than the government price. 

Patent and Deed Distinguished. The document that 



108 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

conveys a tract of land from the government to a person 
is called a patent, but the instrument that shows that real 
property is transferred from a seller to a buyer is called 
a deed. 

When the government sells land to an individual it 
[retains no further right to it except that of eminent domain, 
which is the pow T er to compel an owner to give up his land 
for the public use, but not without compensation therefor, 
whenever the public good requires it. With this excep- 
tion, the person to whom land was first disposed of by 
the government acquires an absolute and unconditional 
title to it, and he may dispose of it in any manner he 
pleases, and if he makes no disposition of it at his death, 
it descends to his lawful heirs. His heirs acquire all the 
right to the land that the original owner had, and so on 
to the next akin according to the law of descent. A title 
to land that is not clogged by any conditions or limita- 
tions as to the time it is to be enjoyed, is called a fee 
simple, because it is of a simple and unlimited character. 

Highest Form of Title. A title in fee simple is the most 
unlimited right to real property that can possibly be 
given to a private individual. By no operation of law 
can it ever go back to the government, unless it is taken 
for public use. This does not preclude the division of a 
piece of real estate into parts and held by different per- 
sons, but into however many different parts it may be 
divided. The title still remains unclouded to the unsold 
portion, and if the parts cut out are transferred absolutely 
the title in fee simple has passed to the new purchasers. 
The owner of an estate may dispose of it conditionally, and 
the purchaser then has less rights than in fee simple. Such 
a purchaser would then have what in law is called a quali- 
fied or restricted title. An owner might also transmit his 
estate with such restrictions that it could only descend to 



EIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS 109 

some particular heirs. An estate thus restrained is called 
a conditional fee. From this custom originated the sys- 
tem of entailment, much used in England for the purpose 
of preventing the landed property from being divided 
into smaller tracts. 

Other Estates. Of estates less than freehold, there are 
said to be three kinds or varieties: namely, estates for 
years, at will, and by sufferance. 

An estate for years is created when the possession is 
granted to one for a certain definite period. Every estate 
which must expire at a certain period, is an estate for 
years. This estate is always created by the acts of the 
parties thereto. Such estates are created by lease, and 
the parties to it are designated as landlord and tenant. 

An estate at will is when one person lets lands or 
tenements to another to be held during the pleasure or 
the will of the former. In estates of this kind, if the 
tenant does not himself determine the lease, he is entitled 
to the growing crops when the lessor ends the estate and 
turns him out, because the tenant did not know before- 
hand that he would be put out, and could make no pro- 
vision for it. 

An estate at sufferance is when one comes lawfully 
into the possession of land, but keeps possession of it 
afterwards without having any right to it. This estate 
may be destroyed or terminated whenever the owner 
takes possession and turns the occupant out. For unlaw- 
ful possession a penalty is awarded in some states against 
the tenant, but the tenant cannot be treated as a tres- 
passer, because he entered upon and took possession in 
a lawful manner. 

Deeds and Mortgages. The form and formalities neces- 
sary to give validity to a deed or mortgage depend chiefly 
upon the statutes of the state in which the property is sit- 



HO THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

uated. The parties to the contract, especially the grant- 
ors, must be capable under law of making such a con- 
tract. All warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, bonds and 
mortgages, immediately after their execution and deliv- 
ery, should be filed for record. To entitle such instru- 
ments to be recorded, they must be acknowledged and 
certified to before some officer duly authorized to take 
such acknowledgment. After the instrument has been 
recorded, the purchaser of the land ought to call for the 
original deed and take it home and keep it safely. The 
purchaser should always be sure that the deed he re- 
ceives describes exactly the tract of land that he buys. 

PERSONAL PROPERTY 

Definition Restated. Personal property has been al- 
ready defined, but it may be stated again as embracing 
all objects and rights which are capable of ownership, 
except real estate or some interest therein. Those things 
which are personal property are technically called 
chattels, a legal term signifying goods. The name adopted 
to distinguish this species of property was chosen to 
signify their movable character, or the capability of being 
moved or carried about with the owner's person. 

How Acquired. There are various ways in which title 
to personal property may be acquired. Some of these 
will be enumerated : 1. By occupancy, as when one finds 
or takes possession of an article that has no owner, or 
that has been abandoned, or when one captures a wild 
animal, or a fish. 2. By increase or accession, as when 
one owns animals which have young. The increase be- 
longs to the owner the same as the grown animals which 
he ow r ns. 3. By confusion or mixture, as where one 
mixes grain with grain of the same kind that belongs 
to another so that it cannot be distinguished and sep- 




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EIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS m 

arated. 4. By a gift, which means to transfer gratuitously 
without an equivalent. Title is transferred by gift when- 
ever an owner of an article gives it to another without 
consideration. 5. By a written transfer describing the 
property and to whom it is transferred. 6. By sale by 
the owner or his authorized agent, with or without de- 
livery or possession. 7. By succession or descent from 
one who dies intestate. 8. By bequest contained in a 
will. 9. By the operation of law or judgment, as where 
one is sued and judgment is rendered against the de- 
fendant and the judgment is collected and paid to the 
plaintiff. 

1 A Further Distinction. A further classification of per- 
sonal property is sometimes made, as when it is said 
to be either in possession or in action. It is in possession 
when it is in the actual occupancy of the owner; and it 
is in action when the owner has merely the right to have 
the thing in question but not in his possession, but he 
may obtain it by an action at law. A thing so recoverable 
is called a chose in action. Thus, a debt due, or money 
payable by note or bond, is a chose in action, for it is 
not in the possession of the person to whom it is due, 
but he has the right to bring a suit to recover it, pro- 
vided it be not paid. 

The Primitive Mode. Title by occupancy is the taking 
possession of those things which before belonged to no- 
body. This no doubt was the original or primitive mode 
of acquiring a right or title to property. Whatever 
movables are found on the land or in the seas or water 
courses, and are not claimed by any other owner, or 
have been thrown away and abandoned by the last pro- 
prietor, may be appropriated by the first finder. But 
the accidental loss of any article does not deprive the 
owner of his right to his property, and he may reclaim 



112 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

it of the finder, if he does so within a reasonable time. 
It is on the same principle that one may forfeit his rights 
by an omission to assert them within a definite period. 
Thus, if a road or a street be established across an indi- 
vidual's land, and it continues to be used as such and 
worked and improved by public authority for a great 
number of years, his neglect to inclose it or to make ob- 
jections, will be regarded as sufficient proof that he had 
dedicated it to the public for its use. 

The benefits of light, air and water may sometimes be 
appropriated by occupancy. Thus, if I have a house and 
another person builds a factory which by giving off 
poisonous vapors, or by other means destroys the salubrity 
of the air, or other elements necessary to the enjoyment 
of my property, I may require him to desist from main- 
taining a nuisance which is a menace to public health. But 
if he had built the factory first, and I build my house 
near him, the nuisance is of my own seeking and I cannot 
require him to abate it. Frequently within cities and 
other densely populated districts certain kinds of trades 
are prohibited within prescribed limits, on the ground 
that the public welfare demands the sacrifice of indi- 
vidual interests. So, if a stream be unoccupied, I may 
erect a mill and detain the water, but not so as to injure 
a neighbor's prior mill. By occupancy he is entitled to 
as much of the water as he requires for his use to run his 
mill. 

The Acquisition of Property by Descent. In all civil- 
ized countries, if a man dies possessed of real or personal 
property, or of both, without having made any dispo- 
sition of it during his life, — that is, dying intestate, — it 
descends from him at the instant of his death to those 
persons who by the particular laws or customs of the 
country in which he lives, are entitled to succeed to his 



EIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS H3 

rights. A person thus dying without making a will is 
called an intestate, or having died intestate, and one 
who makes and leaves a will is called a testator. Descent, 
or hereditary succession, is the title whereby a person 
on the death of his ancestor, accprires his estate by the 
right of accession as a lawful heir. An heir is one 
who inherits an estate immediately upon the death of 
an ancestor. An estate so descending to an heir is called 
an inheritance. The laws regulating the descent of such 
inheritances, and designating the persons who are en- 
titled to be regarded as the heirs at law of the 
deceased, are founded chiefly on the relationship of con- 
sanguinity, or blood relationship, of persons having sprung 
from a common origin from the same ancestor, and who 
are said to share of his blood. 

Kinds of Relationship. This kinship, or consanguinity 
as it is legally spoken of, is either lineal or collateral. 
Lineal consanguinity is that which subsists between per- 
sons, one of whom has descended in a direct line from 
the other. This line may be descending or ascending. If 
one's father and grandfather are both living, or dead, 
they are related to that one in the ascending line, but 
his own children and grandchildren are related to him in 
the descending line. Collateral consanguinity exists in per- 
sons descended from the same common ancestors, but not 
descended from one another. Thus, cousins are related to 
one another by collateral consanguinity, though not de- 
scended from one another ; they are descended from a com- 
mon ancestor, and each has some of that ancestor's blood 
in his or her veins. The degrees of lineal consanguinity are 
reckoned by generations, every generation forming one 
degree, counting either upward or downward. Thus, the 
father is related to the son in the first degree, and the son 
to the father in the first degree — the grandfather and the 



114 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

grandson in the second degree, and the great-grand- 
father and great-grandson in the third degree. The 
degrees in the female line are precisely the same as in the 
male line. 

To ascertain the degrees in collateral consanguinity, 
the law begins with a common ancestor and reckons 
downward. Thus, two brothers or brother and sister, are 
of the first degree; an uncle and nephew or niece of the 
second degree, and so on. 

The number of ancestors which any one may have 
within no very great number of degrees is very large. 
Beginning with one now living and running backward 
one is astonished and bewildered with the number of 
ancestors extending backward only a few generations. 
In the division of an estate, it is a matter of very great 
importance to know definitely how many degrees one 
may be removed from the deceased person. Generally 
all the issue of a deceased person inherit equally without 
regard to sex. 

WILLS 

Must Conform to Law. A will is the legal declaration 
of a man's intentions which he wishes carried out after 
his death. In all the states and territories there are 
statutes regulating wills and prescribing the mode in 
which they must be executed and attested. A will is 
usually required to be in writing, if there is any writing 
material present. It must be signed by the maker in 
the presence of one or more subscribing witnesses. The 
same strictness in the use of words having a technical 
legal meaning, is not so necessary as in other instru- 
ments as, for instance, in a deed or mortgage. The in- 
tention of the testator should be clearly stated, and if 
possible a competent person should write the will. It is 



RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS H5 

reasonable to suppose that when a testator makes a will 
that he reduces his thoughts to writing in a solemn man- 
ner, which is the best evidence of his intentions. No 
will is of any effect till the testator dies, because he may 
change, annul or revoke any will made by him prior to 
his death. In extreme cases in which sickness and death 
may come suddenly upon persons in situations in which 
writing material cannot be had, or writing made, one 
may make a verbal will, but such wills are subject to 
statutory regulation. They are not regarded with much 
favor. 

When no Will Is Made. Since real and personal prop- 
erty may be transferred by the owner to whomsoever 
he pleases by will or testament, yet if he makes no dis- 
position of it, at the time of his death, it descends to 
his heirs. But in either case it is necessary for the settle- 
ment of his estate, the payment of his debts, and the 
equitable distribution of the remaining effects, that some 
one person, or more than one person, shall be appointed 
to execute these purposes. Frequently the testator names 
such person or persons in his will. These persons are 
called executors. But if no such appointment be made 
by the testator, such a person may be appointed by the 
court or by an officer designated by the statutory laws 
of the particular state, and such persons are then called 
administrators. 

An executor or administrator is usually required to 
give a bond with approved security, in amount greater 
than any sum of money that may come into his hands 
at any one time. His first duty after giving bond and 
taking the necessary oath, is to make out a complete 
statement of all property of whatsoever kind that belongs 
to the estate, and of the debts which the estate owes. 
This statement is usually filed within a certain time. If 



116 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

the estate owes more than it is worth, it is said to be 
insolvent. The debts against an estate are classified ac- 
cording to statutory law. 

Property in Different States. If one dies owning prop- 
erty in two or more different states, there must be an 
administrator appointed for each state, unless one files 
a copy of his certificate or letters of administration in 
the proper court of the state wherein such property is 
found, and have the same approved by or confirmed 
according to law. The usual method is, however, to have 
an administrator appointed in each state. Each one 
ought to read the statute of his own state on wills. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Mention the absolute rights. What are legal rights? What do 
you understand by a person? By property rights? When does 
one have a title to property? In the state in which you live, from 
what source was the title to the land on which the school house 
stands, derived? What is the difference between a patent and 
a deed? Define an estate at will. Write a deed to forty acres 
of land. Write a quitclaim deed. Describe a forty-acre tract of 
land in the township where you live. 

Mention four ways that title to property may be secured. What 
becomes of the property of a man after he dies? Explain the 
difference between lineal consanguinity and collateral consan- 
guinity. What is an heir? An inheritance? An estate? How are 
the degrees of lineal consanguinity reckoned? What is a will? 
How is it usually made? What kind of a person ought to be 
appointed administrator? Give two reasons for your answer. If a 
man dies leaving an estate of $30,000.00 and debts against it of 
$12,360.00, and there are three heirs to share equally after the 
debts are paid, what would be the share of each? 



CHAPTER XII 
AGEEEMENTS AXD COXTEACTS 

Contracts Defined. The law of contracts is of the very 

widest application among men in all countries of the 
world. A contract may be defined as an agreement le- 
gally made and enforceable at law between two or more 
persons, to do or not to do a particular thing. There 
can never be a contract unless two or more persons come 
to an agreement upon some point in common. By an 
agreement, is meant a mutual understanding or consent 
to do or not to do the thing to be done or left undone. 
The contracting parties must be legally qualified to make 
a contract. They must be persons such as the law con- 
siders of sufficient age and discretion to be parties to 
a contract. 

Necessary Conditions. The legal conditions required 
to make a contract binding are: 

1. Parties must be legally qualified to contract. 

2. There must be an offer and an acceptance. 

3. There must be a sufficient consideration. 

4. The subject of the contract must be legal. 

5. In most cases it must be in writing, and under seal. 
That is, signed by the parties thereto. 

In a sense, a contract may be regarded as the parties 
making a law themselves which they bind themselves to 
do, or to refrain from doing, some particular thing. Each 
binds himself to an agreement, and if he does not abide 
by it. to suffer damages to the extent of his non-com- 
pliance. 

117 



118 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

Parties to a Contract. Bishop says: "As one cannot 
sue himself, or consequently, enter into any obligation 
enforceable by law with himself, there must be two or 
more parties to every contract." 

Of Sound Mind. A minor, a fool, an insane person 
cannot make a contract. A person to be bound by a 
contract to which he is a party must be of such maturity 
of mind as to know definitely and clearly why he gives 
his assent thereto. In short, he is supposed to know the 
value of things that lie clearly within his knowledge 
and experience. He must be of such age as the laws 
of the state fix for the transaction of such business. 
Minors may begin earlier in life, than the majority of 
persons, to do for themselves, but these are exceptions 
to the general rule. 

By legal disability is meant incapacity to do a legal 
act, and it may relate to power to contract or to sue, or 
arise from want of sufficient understanding, as in cases 
of lunacy or infancy; or from want of freedom of will, 
as in cases of coverture and duress, or from policy of 
the law, as in cases of an alien, age, outlawry and the 
like. 

Who May Not Make Contracts. In law the following 
persons cannot make contracts, namely, insane persons, 
habitual drunkards who have lost control of their mental 
faculties, infants, persons under duress, and alien enemies 
during war. Formerly married women were incapacitated 
from making contracts, but that law has been materially 
modified, or else repealed, in many states. 

A Mutual Agreement. All valid contracts consist of 
mutual stipulations in that something is agreed i to be 
done by both parties, but neither one can call upon the 
other to perform his part of the agreement, unless he has 
performed or agreed to perform his own part. Thus, 



AGREEMENTS AND CONTRACTS 119 

if A agrees to sell B a horse to be delivered at a certain 
time and place, and B should be there at the appointed 
time with the money, and A is there but does not bring 
the horse to be delivered to B, then A cannot compel B 
to pay him the money. On the other hand should he 
deliver or offer to deliver the horse to B, and B declined 
to pay the sum agreed upon. A is not under any obligation 
to deliver the horse to B. Where one of the parties to 
a contract has performed in good faith all that he agreed 
to do, and the other has failed or refused to perform 
any material part of his agreement, the party who has 
complied with his agreement, may use his choice by com- 
pelling the defaulting party to fulfil his part, or he may 
rescind it and treat it as forfeited. A contract broken 
by one of the parties may be regarded as a contract 
broken by the other. "When a part of a contract is thus 
rescinded because one of the parties refused or neglected 
to perform his part of the agreement, the whole contract 
is abrogated, and the parties are placed in the same po- 
sition as they were before the contract was made. 

An Imaginary Case. Suppose I have paid the seller of 
a horse a part of the price, and he chooses to annul 
the contract because I fail to pay the remainder upon 
his offer to deliver the horse, he must pay back to me 
the money that I had previously paid to him. Like- 
wise- if a carpenter fails to complete my house according 
to the terms of the agreement, and I move into it, because 
I derive some benefit from it and cannot give him back 
his labor or material if he finished it, I must pay him 
what his labor is worth, and also the value of the material 
under the circumstances; but I may deduct from the 
payment such damage as I have sustained because of 
his failure to complete his part of the contract. 

What Constitutes Execution. When two or more per- 



120 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

sons agree to perform mutual acts, such as one to sell 
certain goods or chattels to the other, and that other to 
pay a price agreed upon, and the goods or chattels are 
delivered and the money paid, the contract is said to be 
executed; but a contract to do a thing in the future where 
immediate performance is not expected is executory. The 
difference between an executed contract and executory 
contract, is that nothing more needs to be done when 
the contract is executed; but if one fails, the considera- 
tion becomes a matter of vital importance. . The per- 
formance may be enforced or damages given to the in- 
jured party for the loss he has sustained. This depends 
upon the principle that a sufficient consideration must 
enter into every contract, and it must be adequate. 

Two Kinds of Consideration. There are two kinds of 
consideration, each of which may be sufficient, owing to 
circumstances. The first kind is a valuable consideration 
and is one arising from the payment of money or 
evidences of money, an exchange of valuable property, 
the performance of labor or other valuable service, or 
such other benefits as the law regards as a just equivalent 
or exchange of value for the thing to be done, or agreed 
to be done, by the other party. It is not necessary that 
both parties should receive at the time, the thing ac- 
tually contracted for. It is sufficient that one parts w T ith 
the thing sold, and the other agrees to the transfer for 
a certain sum of money to be paid at a future date. One 
may forbear to do a certain act or acts which are en- 
tirely legitimate whereby he might have made a profit, 
and the loss of such profit is a valuable consideration and 
will enable such a one to enforce the payment of the 
sum agreed upon. 

The other kind of a consideration is a good considera- 
tion, such as are founded on motives of generosity, benev- 



AGEEEMENTS AND CONTEACTS 121 

olence, natural affection, or blood relationship. Thus, 
a man may give away his property, provided he keeps 
enough to pay all the debts he owes. It is a legal maxim 
that one must be just before he is generous. A promise 
to give one a valuable present or to pay money for past 
favors, has no legal significance and is not binding. A 
moral obligation supported by a former legal obligation, 
is binding if supported by a promise to that effect. Fraud 
vitiates a contract, and all fraudulent transactions are 
null and void. The thing clone or to be done by virtue 
of a contract must be lawful, that is, something which 
the law does not prohibit. "Whatever the law prohibits 
is void, and cannot be enforced. Should A agree to 
commit a crime, such as murder or robbery, and enter into 
a contract with B to perpetrate such an act, the contract 
could not be enforced. It is on this principle that gam- 
bling debts are not recoverable by law where gambling 
is prohibited by law. Neither can a contract be enforced 
when one of the parties has agreed to do an impossible 
thing, nor will an agreement based upon an immoral 
consideration be enforceable. 

An Illustration. In a case like this : A sells B a horse 
for a specific sum of money, and the horse is dead at 
the time he is sold; A cannot enforce the agreement, 
unless B had agreed to buy a dead horse. 

If a contract be based on two or more conditions, and 
one condition is legal and the other condition is illegal, 
the legal part can be enforced, and the illegal part is 
invalid, if the legal and illegal parts can be separated. 

What Is Fraud? It was stated that fraud vitiates a 
contract. Fraud in a legal sense, is a false representa- 
tion of facts, made with the intention of having it 
believed and acted upon by the party who is to be de- 
frauded. If a drunken man enters into a contract when 



122 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

he is so drunk that he does not know what he is doing, 
he may, when he becomes sober, disavow or affirm the 
contract, and in that case it becomes valid. An infant, 
a drunken man, or a lunatic may make a valid contract 
for necessaries. 

If the parties are able to make a contract, and the 
essential elements are involved, to wit, a sufficient con- 
sideration and mutual consent between the contracting 
parties, they are capable of contracting, if they comply 
with the forms prescribed by law; this agreement may 
be either verbal or written. In general, it is better to 
reduce it to writing which can be produced in case of 
dispute. There are some kinds of contracts that must 
be in writing, or they will be void. 

The Statute of Frauds. During the reign of Charles 
II, in 1676, the English Parliament enacted a law known 
as the Statute of Frauds, from its having been passed to 
prevent frauds and perjuries in upholding and misrepre- 
senting fictitious contracts. Prior to the enactment, most 
contracts and agreements could be proved by oral testi- 
mony. For obvious reasons such evidence is open to great 
abuse, and it is not reliable unless when all the facts 
are fresh in the witness' mind. Even honest witnesses 
may differ widely as to facts and circumstances after 
a lapse of years. Things fade more or less from the most 
tenacious memories. The object in passing such a statute 
was that important contracts should be reduced to 
writing. For this reason legal writers for substantial 
reasons have regarded this as the most important statute 
relating to civil matters ever enacted in England and 
re-enacted in this country, applicable to our local neces- 
sities. The general features of all the statutes of the 
different states agree in the main points that such con- 
tracts must be in writing or they are of no validity. The 



AGBEEMENTS AND CONTRACTS 123 

statute does not alter the validity of a contract, but it 
does require that the signature of the party to be charged 
with the performance of any future act, shall be attached 
thereto to afford more certain and reliable evidence of 
the agreement entered into between the parties. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 
What are the essential elements in a contract? What do you 
understand by an agreement? When is an agreement expressed? 
When is it implied? Give examples. Why can one not make a 
contract with himself? What must either party do before he calls 
upon the other to fulfill a contract? Give an example. Define 
an oral or verbal contract. What do the words oral and verbal 
mean? What persons are regarded in law as infants? When is a 
contract voidable? What does voidable mean and how does it 
legally differ from the word void? Can a married woman, in 
your state, conduct a business in her own name, and can she bind 
herself legally for the payment of debts she contracts? What 
is meant by legal disability? Can two children under age, each 
owning a horse, trade horses, should they decide to do so? Give 
reasons for your answer. When is a contract completed? If two 
boys trade knives, is that a contract such as will stand in law? 
Give two reasons for your answers. What is pleading the " Infant 
Act"? 



CHAPTER XIII 

CONTEACTS FOE THE SALE OE EXCHANGE OF PEESONAL 

PEOPEETY 

Sale, Exchange, Trade. Sale or exchange is a changing 
of property from one person to another, literally it is an 
exchange of ownership. If it be a transfer of one article 
for another it is said to be a " trade 7 ' or barter, but if it 
be a transfer for money, it is a sale. "When one man sells 
goods or chattels to another he is the vendor and the pur- 
chaser is the vendee. The rightful owner of goods may 
sell them to whomsoever he pleases, at any time and for 
any price, unless there be a judgment against him for 
some debt or damages and a writ of execution be delivered 
to the sheriff or some other officer. A sale under such 
conditions is fraudulent, and the goods are liable to be 
seized wherever they may be found to satisfy the execu- 
tion. 

When Is Delivery Complete? As soon as a contract is 
made and its terms agreed upon, the title to the thing sold 
passes from the seller to the buyer. The seller has per- 
formed his part of the contract, and should the thing be 
destroyed or lost, it is at the buyer's risk, though by 
agreement the parties may change the conditions by fix- 
ing a different method of payment, or postponing the 
delivery. But if credit is given, the title may vest in 
the purchaser without delivery. Should the purchaser 
become insolvent after the purchase and before the thing 
purchased comes into his possession, the seller may re- 
claim the thing, and thus annul the sale. Of course if the 

124 



CONTBACTS FOE SALE OF PERSONAL PEOPEETY 125 

sale is made and the purchase price is paid, the contract 
then is executed. The difference is whether it be one of 
credit or cash sale. 

The statute of frauds interposes some checks upon 
hasty and loose agreements for the sale of goods on credit. 
If it is not convenient to make a delivery at once, the 
sale may be made binding by paying a certain part of the 
purchase price, or by signing an agreement to pay at a 
future date. Should the seller deliver a part of the goods 
and the buyer accepts them, this will bind both parties. 

So, if a man sells goods as his own and he has no title, 
a warranty is implied by the common law that his right 
is good, and if it turns out that he has no title, the 
purchaser consequently can acquire no title, but he may 
demand damages of the former for the loss sustained. 
But in general the seller of goods is not responsible for 
the quality of the goods he sells, unless he expressly war- 
rants them to be as he represents them. Should it appear 
that he wilfully misrepresented or falsified so that the 
purchaser was deceived, the misrepresentation being ma- 
terial, then it is fraud, and the purchaser has a legal right 
to recover damages. 

A Case in Point. Again, if I engage a tailor to make 
me a suit of clothes, there is an implied contract that 
having taken my measure, he will make the suit out of the 
"material selected and that it will fit, but should it not fit, 
it is useless and I can not be forced to take it. He knew 
the purpose for which it was ordered, and he has not 
complied with his part of the contract. When goods are 
sold by sample, it is expected that the whole will come 
up to the specimens exhibited, that they are equal in 
quantity and quality to the specimens shown and upon 
which the purchase was made. While it is probable that 
the seller believed that his representations were true as 



12(3 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

to the quality of the remainder of the goods that he had 
not seen, but that he had sold by sample, yet as he had 
made such assertions as to their quality, and the goods 
were so situated that the purchaser could not examine 
them, this would be a species of fraud practiced upon him, 
if such a misrepresentation should prove to be deceitful. 
This should not be understood to be active or inten- 
tional misrepresentation, on the contrary, it would be 
ignorance through lack of knowledge. Of course the 
seller is supposed to know the facts. His recourse, how- 
ever, would be on the manufacturer of the goods who 
had put his samples on exhibition and represented them 
as being on a par with the goods packed or boxed. The 
law allows an owner considerable latitude in praising his 
goods, or whatever kind of property he has for sale, pro- 
vided the buyer has an opportunity to examine it before- 
hand and to decide upon its value. 

CONTRACTS FOR THE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY 

What it Embraces. Real property has already been 
defined, but it is referred to in this connection as such 
things as are fixed, permanent, immovable, as land and 
whatever grows out of the land or adheres to it. Build- 
ings erected on land, unless a reservation to the contrary 
be made, and growing crops, are reckoned as realty. The 
most important contracts that can be made are those per- 
taining to the transfer of real estate, and the law has to 
be strictly complied with to prevent clouded or imperfect 
titles. Such contracts are governed by the same general 
rules to which other contracts are subject, but in order 
to render rights secure to those that purchase, and to 
prevent future litigation, transfers must be proved by a 
higher kind of evidence than can be established by hear- 




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CONTEACTS FOE SALE OF PEESONAL PEOPEETY 127 

say or oral testimony. The property transferred must be 
minutely and accurately described by metes and bounds. 
To show the full import of this statement some explana- 
tion is necessary. 

History of Our Present System. A former reference 
was made to the irregular tracts of land surveyed in the 
original colonies. See page 107. "The rectangular system 
of survey" which was reported by a committee to con- 
gress, was adopted May 7, 1784. This committee consisted 
of Thomas Jefferson, chairman, Messrs. "Williamson, 
Howell, Gerry and Reas. Their report required the pub- 
lic lands to be divided into "hundreds" of ten geograph- 
ical miles square, and these again subdivided into lots 
of one mile square each, to be numbered from 1 to 100, 
beginning at the northwest corner, counting from west 
to east and from east to west, continuously. This report 
was considered, debated and amended, and on the 3rd 
day of May, 1785, on motion of Mr. Grayson of Virginia, 
seconded by Mr. Monroe, the size of the township was 
reduced to six miles square. It was further discussed 
until the 20th of May, 1785, when it became a law. The 
system as adopted offered the land for sale in sections 
of 640 acres ; in 1800, a half section of 320 acres could be 
purchased. In 1820, a law was enacted which authorized 
the government to sell a quarter section of 160 acres ; in 
1832, a further subdivision was made, so that 40 acre 
tracts could be sold to purchasers. 

Preliminary to surveying the public lands of the United 
States, surveying districts were established, in which one 
or more initial points are located at an intersection of 
meridians and base lines, from which to begin the surveys. 

In surveying the public lands are laid off in bodies of 
land 24 miles square, as nearly as may be. This is done 



128 THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

by the extension of standard lines from the principal 
meridian every 24 miles, and by the extension, from the 
base and standard lines, of auxiliary meridians every 24 
miles. Thereafter these tracts are divided into bodies of 
land six miles square, called townships, containing 23,040 
acres, approximately. The townships are divided into 
sections containing 640 acres, more or less. Any number 
or series of contiguous townships situated north or south 
of each other constitute a range. Ranges number north 
or south from the base line, and townships number east 
or west from the principal meridian. 

Description of Land. There are three reasons why the 
description of a piece of real estate should be accurately 
given. All deeds, bonds for deeds, and mortgages, to be 
of any value must be recorded, or ought to be filed for 
record, as soon as the transfer of property is agreed to. 
In the second place when one pays the state, county or 
city tax on a piece of real estate, he ought to know that 
the description in the tax receipt agrees exactly with the 
description in the deed. It is difficult to have money re- 
funded for the wrong payment of taxes. The one who 
pays a real estate tax ought to look at the tax receipt 
then and there for the purpose of detecting a mistake, 
should c one be made. 

Usefulness of An Abstract. Finally, one should keep 
an abstract of title to each piece of real estate that he 
owns. An abstract consists of short extracts of convey- 
ances and shows the character of each legal paper affect- 
ing the title, whether it be an absolute or conditional 
conveyance ; also the acknowledgements and records of 
each with their dates; the names and residence of all 
parties with each conveyance. The property set forth 
should be accurately and minutely described, and any 
irregularity or omission noted. The records should be 



CONTKACTS foe sale of personal property 129 

examined for deeds, orders, or decrees of courts, wills, 
titles by descent, and encumbrances of any kind such as 
mortgages, judgments, dowers, taxes, liens, leases, rents. 
In abstracting the title to lands, the title to public lands 
in the states formed since the close of the Eevolutionary 
War, need not be traced back of the patent issued by the 
government. In a perfect title, the transfer from each 
party should be a warranty deed, or its equivalent, and 
all encumbrances satisfied. 

The Legal Description of a Deed. In describing a tract 
of land to which the title is traced back to a patent from 
the government, the following is necessary for a legal 
description : the section, or fractional part, as designated 
by government on original patent, adding, more or less, 
fractional part, or lot number, block and addition, if in 
a city or town, whenever it occurs in the original patent ; 
next, the number of the township and range, the name 
or number of the surveying meridian, and the number of 
acres. Land grants, military tracts, and irregular shaped 
pieces should be deeded by metes and bounds, that is, give 
the length and the bearing of the sides, to which should 
be added the number of acres and the original name or 
number. Deeds for town or city lots should show size of 
lot, number of lot, and block and name of the original 
town, or addition to the city or town, with name of 
county and state added. 

A Deed. A deed in law is a formal written expression 
of something done by the party or parties from whom 
it proceeds, containing a contract* of agreement which 
has been delivered by the party and accepted by the pur- 
chaser. The person making the conveyance is usually 
called the grantor, and the person to whom it is made the 
grantee. A deed must be signed, sealed and delivered. 



130 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

BILLS OF EXCHANGE 

Are Instruments of Convenience. In the transaction of 
business, bills of exchange, promissory notes and checks 
are frequently used for the more convenient transfer of 
money from one to another, and especially for the remit- 
tance of money from one country or section of country to 
another. A bill of exchange is an unconditional written 
order or request by one person to another for the pay- 
ment of a definite sum of money at a specified time. Bills 
of exchange are usually spoken of as two kinds, foreign 
and domestic. Domestic bills are called drafts. The 
party who draws a bill or draft is the drawer; the party 
upon whom it is drawn is the drawee; and the party in 
whose favor it is drawn is the payee. 

Bills of exchange were originally invented by mer- 
chants and traders to avoid sending money from one 
country to another for the payment of debts. It is cus- 
tomary for the payee to present a time draft to the drawee 
before it becomes due, in order to ascertain whether the 
draft or bill has been drawn by one authorized to draw, 
and if the drawee will pay the money according to the 
order. If he so agrees, the drawee writes the word "ac- 
cepted" on the face of the bill, and signs his name under- 
neath. After he has done this he is called the acceptor. 
Such bills pass from one to another like money, and one 
bill may serve to pay several debts before it finally gets 
back to the bank where it was issued. 

Protest Necessary. If a foreign bill is dishonored by 
non-acceptance or non-payment by the drawee, the holder 
should at once have it protested in order that the drawer 
may be held liable for payment. Notice of protest in 
writing must be promptly transmitted to the drawers and 
indorsers, if any, in order to fix their liability to the 



CONTRACTS FOR SALE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY 13 1 

holder. Such notice is necessary; otherwise the drawer 
and indorsers are discharged from liability. 

Foreign bills of exchange are drawn in triplicate in order 
to hasten their transmission and to insure their receipt by 
the payee. They are not sent in the same mail. The three 
bills are called technically a set, and in law they constitute 
one instrument, each is so worded that it mentions the 
other two. Upon the payment of one bill, the other two 
are void. The drawee, however, should accept but one bill, 
and only one should be endorsed. 

The practical method of getting a bill of exchange or a 
draft, is for one to go to a bank and pay the cashier the 
price of the bill of exchange or draft, and it is made out 
for the sum desired on a bank in the foreign country or 
state, signed by the proper bank official and then given to 
the purchaser, who forwards it by mail to its destination. 
The bank will forward the other two, if the destination be 
a foreign country. 

PROMISSORY NOTES 

Definition and Parties. A promissory note is a contract, 
and a brief one, containing an unconditional promise to 
pay to another's order, or the bearer, a specific sum of 
money on or before a certain date. When the note con- 
tains the words "or order" or "bearer," the meaning is 
to pay whoever holds the note at the time it falls due. Of 
course the value of a promissory note as a circulating 
medium of credit depends upon its being negotiable, and 
that it will be accepted in lieu of money because the maker 
of the note is financially responsible. In assigning a note 
the person assigning it is called the assignor or endorser, 
and the person to whom it is assigned the assignee or en- 
dorsee. If the assignment is made by the assignor simply 
writing his name on the back of the note, it is called an 



132 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

assignment in blank. It may be transferred from one per- 
son to another without further endorsement. But the mere 
act of endorsing binds each one to pay the note, provided 
the maker should refuse to pay it when it becomes due. 
However, each endorsement must be made by a person 
legally qualified to make a contract. 

As to the kinds of bills, notes and checks that are no- 
gotiable, it is necessary to look to the statute law of each 
state. They vary materially, but as a general rule if two 
or more persons agree to become endorsers or sureties for 
the drawer or drawee for a bill of exchange, or for the 
maker of a note, to enable the latter to borrow money, 
or to extend his credit, and one of the sureties is 
obliged to pay it, he may demand from the other or others 
their proportionate share so that the loss may be equally 
divided. 

CHECKS 

Defined and Explained. A check is an order on a bank 
to pay the holder a definite sum of money at the bank to 
a third person, on demand. It is drawn on funds on 
deposit in the bank. No grace is allowed, and it is not due 
till it is presented for payment. A check should be pre- 
sented for payment within a reasonable time, taking into 
view all the circumstances of the case. It is better to 
present a check for payment as soon as possible. If the 
money on deposit in the bank be drawn or checked out, 
the bank can refuse to cash or accept the check, because 
of lack of funds. Banks furnish " check books" to their 
depositors in order to facilitate business. Banks con- 
stantly pay checks drawn on other banks by crediting 
them to their own depositors. The accounts between the 
banks of a city are adjusted through what is technically 
called the "Clearing House." A clearing house is a place 



CONTRACTS FOR SALE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY 133 

where the representatives of the banks meet each day, and 
each bank that belongs to the association settles its debits 
and credits with all the other banks. The object of a 
clearing house association is to effect at one time and 
place the daily exchanges between the banks which are 
members of the association, and the payment of the bal- 
ances resulting from such exchanges. Some banks that 
do not belong to the association have an agreement to 
clear through banks which do belong. Much of the busi- 
ness of the entire country is carried on by means of 
checks. 

CONTRACTS OF BAILMENT 

Meaning and Application. The term Bailment is de- 
rived from the French language, bailler, a w^ord signify- 
ing to deliver. In a legal sense it is a delivery of goods 
in trust, upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the 
trust will be faithfully performed on the part of the 
bailee. The bailee is the one who receives the thing, and 
the bailor is the one who delivers the thing. When one 
delivers goods to another, on a contract, and the one to 
whom they are delivered shall use them in a particular 
manner, or for a particular purpose, it is implied that he 
shall return them to the owner when that purpose is 
accomplished. Should cloth be delivered to a tailor to 
make a coat, it is implied that the tailor will return the 
coat to the owner when it is made. So if a watch is 
pawned for the payment of a sum of money, the watch 
should be returned to the owner when the pledgor has 
performed his part of the contract where the money is 
paid. If goods be delivered to a commission merchant to 
be sold for the owner on commission, the merchant is 
bound to pay to the owner the price received after 
deducting expenses and commission charges. 



134 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

Likewise, if goods be delivered to a person or a cor- 
poration who makes a business of conveying goods from 
one place to another as freight, and who is called ■ a 
common carrier, whatever his conveyance may be, the law 
raises an implied contract on his part that he will deliver 
the freight in good condition at the place or to the person 
designated. There is also an implied contract giving the 
carrier the right to keep such possession against any other 
person than the rightful owner, or his agent or legal 
adviser. 

Common Carriers. The subject of common carriers is 
one of the most diversified in connection with the civil 
law. The contracts relate to persons and things. Rail- 
ways, steamships, steamboats and all other agencies for 
transporting persons and things from one place to another 
for hire, are common carriers. A common carrier is 
responsible for all loss or damage that happens to goods 
in transit unless caused by an accident or by a public 
enemy. A common carrier must exercise more than due 
diligence for the safety of persons or things in carrying 
them to their destination. By a public enemy is under- 
stood an organized military force for making war upon 
the country to w T hich the carrier belongs, or by pirates 
on the high seas. Mobs, strikers, rioters, and other dis- 
orderly or evil-disposed persons, are not regarded as 
enemies in the sense used above. In case of war, the 
common carrier will be responsible if he take needless 
risk when a longer route is one of safety. A common* 
carrier has the right to make reasonable rules regulating 
the conduct and the risk of its passengers ; but such car- 
riers are not insurers of their passengers. Should a pas- 
senger with notice of these rules put himself in a dan- 
gerous place and injury results to him on account of his 



COOTEACTS FOE SALE OF PEESONAL PEOPEETY 135 

wilful or heedless misconduct, lie has no cause of action, 
nor is a carrier responsible for loss sustained on account 
of the fault of the shipper of goods. 

The degree of negligence a common carrier must use 
to avoid such responsibility varies in different cases, and 
in order to give as much certainty as possible to the rules 
applicable to different cases, neglect, or omission to exer- 
cise due foresight, has been divided into three kinds, 
namely: Slight neglect, which is the omission of that 
diligence which prudent persons use in securing their 
own goods and chattels. Ordinary neglect is the omission 
of that care that every man of prudence and intelligence 
takes of his own affairs ; and gross neglect is the absence 
of that care which every man of common sense, however 
inattentive, takes of his own property. 

A Fruitful Source of Litigation. Many interesting and 
intricate legal questions have arisen in regard to the 
liabilities of common carriers where there are successive 
companies of common carriers over a continuous route of 
travel, and each is an independent company, as shipping 
by railroads or express companies. Some states make the 
receiving company liable, and in case of loss or damage it 
collects from the company that lost the goods. To a 
certain extent the common carrier, when he accepts the 
goods, insures the safe delivery of them, and he is bound 
to comply with such reasonable and suitable instruction 
as the owner may give relating to their destination and 
delivery. One notices frequently such directions as: 
"This side up!" "Handle with care!" or "To be kept 
dry!" and these instructions must be strictly followed. 
It should be observed that a private carrier is not under 
the same restrictions and liabilities as a common carrier. 
Common carriers can not refuse to take goods and trans- 



136 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

port them, unless there be valid reasons for refusal, and 
there are cases, some of which have been previously 
noticed, when the common carrier is not liable. For 
instance, the public authority may seize the goods and 
dispose of them in some other manner. The goods offered 
to be shipped may be of such a nature that they are too 
dangerous to handle ; or again, the goods may be perish- 
able, such as fruits, vegetables, or liquids that would 
evaporate or ferment ; or it might be a case of hauling 
vicious live stock. There may also be a difference owing 
to shipping live stock, or inanimate property. All of 
these are questions, and there are many others, which 
modify the general law relating to common carriers. As 
much, however, as can be done in this connection, is to 
call attention briefly to some phases of this subject in its 
most general bearings. 

Hotel Keepers. A hotel keeper, or an inn keeper, is 
one who keeps a public house and agrees to take care of 
and entertain guests and furnish them with food and 
lodging, or lodging, for compensation. "Whether the 
hotel be conducted on the American or European plan, it 
is held to be a hotel. A hotel keeper is bound to receive 
all orderly persons and treat them alike, unless all his 
rooms are taken. "When he receives a guest, that includes 
his baggage or luggage also, and the hotel keeper is 
responsible for it, too. In most hotels there are printed 
notices in each room informing the guest what he must, 
or must not, do to be insured against loss. If the guest 
does not comply with the rules of the hotel and he suffers 
loss, it is his own fault. Should a guest depart from a 
hotel and leave his baggage without paying his bill, the 
hotel keeper can retain the baggage till the bill is paid. 
These are matters that are governed now exclusively by 
state laws. 



CONTRACTS FOE SALE OF PEESONAL PROPERTY 137 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Describe accurately the tract of land on which the school house 
stands. Why should an assessor know the description of each 
tract of land that he assesses for taxes? What is meant by taking 
the acknowledgment of a deed? What are the parties to a deed 
called? How are the sections in a township numbered? What is 
the difference between a general warranty and a special warranty? 
Give four or more conditions necessary to make a legal deed. 
What is meant by a deed's being signed, sealed and delivered? 
What fee is charged for recording a deed? When is the fee due? 

Explain briefly the difference between a draft, a promissory 
note, and a check. When do notes bear interest? What is the 
legal rate where you live? Define usury. What is a protest in a 
commercial sense? If A agrees to sell his farm at one-half its 
value, and there is no fraud in connection with the sale, and B 
agrees to take it, is the contract binding? Why? A promises B 
that he will make B his assistant if B will sign A's bond as city 
assessor, provided A is elected. Is the contract binding? Can 
ante-election promises be enforced? What constitutes due dili- 
gence in the collection of a note when it becomes due? Write a 
check on a bank for the payment of ten dollars. 

Describe how you would deposit eight dollars in money and a 
twelve-dollar check in the bank where you live. 

Tell the difference between a common carrier and a private 
carrier. What kind of a carrier is the one who hauls passengers 
from a depot to a hotel, or from the hotel to a depot? Is a trolley 
car a common carrier? Give two reasons for your answer. What 
is a bailment? Give three examples. How may a bailee become 
responsible for the loss of property? Define each species of neglect. 

If A has a pasture to rent for the use of stock, and B puts in a 
horse for a certain price, and the horse dies while in the pasture, 
is A responsible to B for the price of the horse? Is a hotel keeper 
liable for the acts of his " hired help"? 

Is a railroad conductor justified in refusing to let a drunken 
man ride on his train? How many pounds of baggage is a 
passenger allowed on one ticket? 



CHAPTER XIV 

OTHEE CONTRACTS 

There are many other different kinds of contracts such 
as the relation of husband and wife, contracts by and 
with infants, and by and with persons standing in the 
relation of parent and child, master and apprentice, 
and principal and agent; contracts of partnership, insur- 
ance contracts, etc. 

Marriage 

Is a Civil Contract. Marriage, by the common law as 
well as by statutory provisions, is considered a civil con- 
tract, but of a more sacred and solemn nature than ordi- 
nary contracts. In order to give greater solemnity to the 
marriage ceremony, it is customary to have a minister of 
the gospel perform the ceremony. If two persons of legal 
age enter into a valid agreement to marry, and either one 
afterwards refuses to perform the agreement, he or she 
will be answerable to the other in damages for the 
refusal, provided the other seeks redress in court. All 
grown persons are able to contract a marriage, unless 
they labor under some legal disability. As to the age 
qualifications the laws are more lax in regard to mar- 
riage than in ordinary contracts. The French marriage 
laws are much more stringent than are such laws in this 
country. In relation to each other after marriage it is 
the duty of the husband to protect his wife, and to pro- 
vide for her according to his means and station in life, 
and it is the wife's duty to love, to honor and to help her 

138 



OTHEE CONTRACTS 139 

husband make a living. Under the common law the hus- 
band was given much more authority over his wife and 
her property than is authorized at present under statu- 
tory law. Before marriage, contracts may be made that 
will be valid and binding after marriage. Of recent years 
legislative enactments have greatly enlarged the powers 
and liabilities of married women, so that now in many of 
the states they are almost as free as their husbands in 
transacting their own business. The wife may own prop- 
erty in her own name and dispose of it as she deems 
proper. 

The student is advised to read the statutes of his own 
state in order to understand clearly what powers, duties 
and liabilities married women have conferred on them. 

Contracts with Infants, and with Persons Standing in the Relation 
of Parent and Child, and Principal and Agent 

A Fuller Discussion. In a former chapter some com- 
ments were made on these subjects, and they are taken 
up in this connection in order to give a fuller discussion 
than was there possible. By general consent the age of 
twenty-one years has been fixed upon for males and 
females to become of full age in this country, and it is 
completed on the day preceding the anniversary of their 
twenty-first birthday. Until that day they are legally 
called infants. 

Infants are responsible for some acts, and they are 
capable of making some contracts that will be binding on 
them, but they labor also under various disabilities which 
are designed as benefits to them, and to prevent them 
from being imposed upon by persons who might be in- 
clined to take advantage of their inexperience and imma- 
ture understanding. An infant can not be sued except 
under the protection and with his guardian who defends 



140 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

him in court and from other attacks. But an infant may- 
institute suit in the name of his guardian, or of some 
other person, who is then called his next friend, or if 
the guardian should combine with others, or should him- 
self attempt to defraud the infant, the latter can ask the 
court to appoint another guardian in order to protect his 
rights. 

Responsibility in Criminal Oases. In criminal cases, an 
infant is responsible long before he arrives at the legal 
age, and he is held responsible for unlawful acts. As 
between a guardian and his ward in case one injures the 
other, they stand in precisely the same relation as outside 
parties, except where the guardian has the custody of the 
ward's body, he then stands in the place of a parent, and 
he has a larger right to restrain and correct his ward. 
But the guardian has no legal claim to the services of his 
ward, unless the relation of master and servant exists. 

As to contracts with infants while they are not abso- 
lutely void, but merely voidable, if he so chooses after 
he becomes of age he may ratify such a contract. If he 
affirms the contract upon reaching his majority, the con- 
tract is binding on him. It is the intention of the statutes 
of the different states to protect the rights of minors, and 
every safeguard is thrown about them for that purpose. 

Parent and Child 

While an infant remains with his parents and is sup- 
ported by them, or by either of them, the infant is not 
liable to a third person, even for necessaries ; nor can the 
parent be held responsible for necessaries furnished to 
said minor, unless they be furnished under a special con- 
tract, or under circumstances from which a contract 
would be implied. Should the parent let his child live 



OTHER CONTRACTS 141 

with another, there is an implied contract that the child 
will thus be furnished, and the parent is responsible. 

In case of a separation of the parents, sometimes the 
custody of the child is given to the father, and at other 
times to the mother. This is generally left to the discre- 
tion of the court when a legal conflict arises between the 
husband and wife for the possession of the children. 

The parents are in duty bound to feed, clothe, take care 
of the health, and to educate their child, and the child 
should obey and assist his parents till he reaches his 
majority. The parents may correct their child in modera- 
tion, but the legal relation between the parent and child 
ceases when the child is twenty-one. 

A parent is not liable for wrongs done or crimes com- 
mitted by his child, unless he ordered the child to do the 
wrongful act, nor is the child liable for wrongs done by 
its parents. 

The parent may delegate a part of his authority to 
those under whom the child may be temporarily placed, 
as to a tutor or a teacher, and the latter has such authority 
intrusted to him as is necessary for the purpose intended. 

Master and Servant 

The relation of master and servant has an extended 
meaning, and may exist between any two persons capable 
of making a contract. The master acquires legal control 
over his servant, or agent. Originally it applied particu- 
larly to apprentices who were bound for a term of years 
to another to learn or to be taught some trade or voca- 
tion. By an extension of meaning it applies to every 
form of work in which one person's work is subject to 
the control and supervision of another to whom he is 
responsible. But in the narrower sense, before appren- 
ticeships were practically abolished in this country by 



142 THE DESIEABLE CITIZEN 

changed economic and industrial conditions, it was com- 
mon for a boy to be bound out to a master to learn a 
trade, and under such conditions the apprentice was to 
be instructed in the art of the trade. Obligations and 
duties were mutual between the master and his appren- 
tice. The master was bound to furnish his apprentice 
with necessary food, clothing and shelter, and some edu- 
cation, and at the end of the apprenticeship to pay him a 
stipulated sum of money, or its equivalent. The master 
must also protect and defend his apprentice, and ad- 
monish him when necessary, but not to abuse him immod- 
erately. The apprentice was treated usually as a member 
of the family. The apprentice was expected at all times 
to work for his master's interests and to be faithful and 
diligent in the performance of all his duties. Usually an 
apprentice is a minor, but an adult may enter into such 
an agreement. The master may use physical force to 
protect or defend his apprentice, the same as in defense 
of his own child, and conversely, the apprentice may use 
physical force to defend or protect his master. For minors 
these contracts are made by their parents or guardian, 
with the minor's consent. For minors the conditions are 
now chiefly regulated by statutory laws. 

Principal and Agent, Closely allied to the law relating 
to master and servant is that of principal and agent, 
which will now receive some attention. Much of the 
world's business is conducted through agents. An agency 
is a term signifying an understanding or an agreement, 
expressed or implied, whereby one person or firm is 
authorized to act in the place of another in the transac- 
tion of some kind of business. The general rule in law is 
this, that if one can legally transact business, he may 
employ another to transact business of certain kinds in 
his absence. The contract between the principal and his 




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OTHER CONTRACTS 143 

agent is in the nature of a trust in which the principal 
confides to his agent certain things which he may do. 
Large business enterprises and corporations must neces- 
sarily have a large force of agents to conduct the various 
branches of their activities. A great corporation may 
have thousands of such employed. These agents may be 
engaged in widely different kinds of work. A broad 
classification, however, divides agents into two classes, 
general and special. A general agent is one employed by 
another to act generally in any particular trade, business 
or occupation. He is supposed by the public to act within 
the scope of his authority, and that he knows by the terms 
and conditions of his contract what he may legally do. It 
is reasonable to suppose that the agent acts within the 
scope of his authority which he is not presumed to over- 
step. ^Vhen clearly acting within the scope of his au- 
thority, his acts, though he may overstep the expressed 
conditions of his agreement, will bind his principal. Just 
how far an agent can bind his principal depends upon 
what authority has been granted to him. The prudent 
agent will act clearly within the scope of his authority. 
A safe rule is for an agent to follow his instructions 
closely, and if in doubt, telegraph for additional authority. 
Special Agents. A special agent is a person who is 
authorized to do for another a single act, or some par- 
ticular transaction only. It is the duty of the person 
dealing with such an agent to ascertain the extent of his 
authority. The principal will not be bound by any act of 
his special agent not expressly authorized or fairly in- 
ferred from his contract or commission. Should the 
special agent go beyond his authority and it be affirmed 
by his principal, then the principal is bound by the act of 
his agent. Any contract ratified by the principal binds 
him, notwithstanding the agent had no authority, either 



144 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

expressed or implied, in the first place. In general, what- 
ever an agent is permitted to do in the ordinary course of 
business, is taken as a command from his principal to do 
it, provided it be lawful. The principal must disown the 
act of his agent as soon as his acts come to his knowledge, 
or by his acquiescence he makes the act his own. 

How Agencies Are Terminated. An agency may be 
terminated in three ways : 1. By revoking the power of 
the agent by the principal; 2. By renouncing the acts of 
the agent when he exceeds his authority ; 3. By the opera- 
tion of law, or the expiration of the contract. 

Contracts of Partnership 

Who Are Partners? A partnership is a contract 
formed by two or more persons to place their money, 
effects, labor and skill in business for the purpose of 
sharing the profits and losses in certain proportions. This 
relationship may be created by an agreement in writing or 
by the verbal agreement of the parties proposing to form 
the partnership. However, to avoid misunderstanding 
and perhaps future litigation, it is the wiser policy to 
reduce such agreement to writing and to have it properly 
attested. The right to participate in the profits and the 
liability to contribute to the losses of the business, how- 
ever unequal the shares may be, constitutes the essence of 
the partnership. Each partner is the general agent for 
all the others, and may bind them by any contract that he 
makes which lies within the scope of their agreement. A 
member may when entering into a partnership stipulate 
that, as between himself and his copartners, he shall not 
be liable for losses to the firm. Though a participation in 
the profits and losses may render one liable as a partner to 
a stranger or to third parties, yet such participation does 
not create a partnership between the parties, if the facts 



OTHER CONTRACTS 145 

show there was no intention on their part that it should 
have such an effect. As between the copartners them- 
selves they may limit the powers and fix the duties and 
responsibility of each member, and any violation of this 
agreement resulting in loss to the other partners makes 
the wrong-doer liable in damages to his copartners. Thus, 
if a member of a dry goods firm should engage in specula- 
tion in grain, or in any other business not connected with 
their legitimate partnership agreement, it will not bind 
his copartners, because such matters lie outside of the 
real scope of their business. If a person lets another have 
a certain sum of money to be employed in a trade, upon 
an agreement that the profits shall be equally divided 
between them, this would not be regarded as a partner- 
ship, but as in the nature of a loan of money, although a 
creditor might have the right to regain it as a partnership 
from an enforcement of the claim arising from the busi- 
ness transacted. While a participation in the profits and 
losses is regarded as the criterion of a partnership when 
the rights of a third person are involved, it will not be 
so considered where one agrees to accept a portion of the 
profits as a compensation for his services, and has no other 
interest in the business. 

A Silent Partner. A silent or dormant partner is a 
member of the firm, but whose name is not publicly 
known as one of the firm. But such a person is equally 
liable for all the contracts made by the firm, when dis- 
covered, with those who are known as partners. When 
a member of a firm retires from the firm and wishes to be 
released from future liability for debts of the firm, he 
must give actual notice of the fact to the public by print- 
ing the same in some newspaper of general circulation in 
the locality where the business is carried on, and by send- 
ing special notice to the creditors and customers of the 



146 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

firm. Should one represent himself as a partner of a 
firm, and persons are induced to deal with the firm on the 
faith of his representations, he is held liable to such per- 
sons for the firm's debts, though he was in no wise con- 
nected with the firm. 

A Nominal Partner. A nominal partner is one who 
has no actual interest in the profits or losses, and is not a 
partner, but allows his name to be used as one of the firm. 
Such person is, however, liable as a partner to third per- 
sons, on all transactions in which credit is given to the 
firm on the faith of his being a partner. This is intended 
to prevent frauds to which creditors might be exposed, 
were parties allowed with impunity to afford business 
firms the means of assuming an appearance of responsi- 
bility to which they are in nowise entitled. 

The Principle Illustrated. If two men dealing in buy- 
ing and selling horses should agree never to warrant any 
horse, and one of them, upon the sale of a horse belonging 
to the firm, gives a warranty, the other is "nevertheless 
bound thereby. This principle has a rather wide applica- 
tion, thus any one member of a firm or of a trading 
partnership may bind his copartners by accepting, draw- 
ing, or endorsing a bill of exchange, or by making or 
endorsing a promissory note in the name of the firm; by 
selling or insuring the partnership effects; by receiving 
money for the firm; by releasing debts due it; and by 
other acts or contracts of a similar nature, or incidental 
to conducting the business of the firm. 

Terminating a Partnership. One or more of the mem- 
bers of a firm may retire from business by disposing of 
his or their stock, or the partners may have a voluntary 
settlement and balance their accounts, and if a certain 
sum of money is found due one of them and the other 
refuses to pay it, he may be sued in an action at law for 



OTHER CONTRACTS 147 

such balance. But in general one partner can not sue his 
copartner in an ordinary action at law for any claims in 
respect to partnership accounts, or in any other matter 
connected with partnership transactions. The reason is 
this, a court of law, where a knowledge of the facts is 
generally confined to the parties themselves, can not do 
justice between them. So, when a suit becomes necessary, 
they apply to a court of equity where both parties can be 
compelled to disclose all matters connected with their 
affairs and a full investigation, and settlement of their 
accounts can be made. 

It is usually better for members of a firm to wind up 
their business amicably, but sometimes this is impossible. 

Partnerships may be dissolved in various ways: by 
death of either of the partners unless there is an express 
stipulation to the contrary; where one of the partners 
becomes a bankrupt ; where one of the partners commits 
a wilful fraud, or is guilty of other gross misconduct. 

Upon the dissolution of a copartnership, each partner, 
unless there is an express agreement to the contrary, has 
power to receipt for and settle debts due the firm, and a 
payment made to any one of them will be good, unless 
some one is designated to collect the outstanding debts. 
All power to make new contracts ceases the moment the 
partnership is at an end. Each retains only such power 
to act for the firm as is necessary for the settlement of 
such previous transactions as may remain open. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

What is an apprentice? What are three of his obligations? If 
the master commands his apprentice to steal, must the apprentice 
obey? Give two reasons for your answer. What authority must a 
person have to make a valid sale when the owner is not present? 
What is such a person called? How must an agent receive his 
authority? What is the general rule as to the right of a person 



148 THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

to appoint an agent? If several persons are engaged in a part- 
nership business, can any one of them appoint an agent for all? 
Why? State the difference between a verbal appointment and a 
written appointment. When can a person safely pay money to 
an agent? If an agent receives money and misapplies it, who 
is responsible? When can an agent legally appoint sub-agents? 
When can an agent renounce the authority of his principal? Is a 
public officer an agent? Why? If an agent becomes insane, 
would his insanity cancel his contract? How may an agency be 
revoked? May an infant appoint an agent? 

Write a contract appointing a person to buy cattle for you in 
the county in which you live, the contract to be valid for one 
year. Is an auctioneer an agent? Give two reasons for your 
decision. 

How may a partnership be formed, and between whom may it 
be formed? What constitutes the essence of a contract? What is 
meant by the interest of third persons? State the difference 
between a Nominal and a Silent partner? State when the 
action of one of the partners will bind the other members 
of the firm. One in which the firm is not bound. Is there 
any relation of the acts of one of the members of a partner- 
ship of the same character as that of an agent acting for his 
principal? Give an illustration. In your state how may one 
partner sue another? What is understood by the dissolution of a 
partnership? Why should notice of a dissolution be given? Can 
there be a partnership if one has all the profits? How may a 
person, not a partner, render himself liable? Why is this? In 
what different ways may a partnership be dissolved? 



CHAPTER XV 
TEIALS AT LAW 

Are Necessary. Owing to the numerous relations into 
which persons may enter and the differences that arise 
relating to the rights and duties of the parties themselves, 
our laws point out remedies for wrong, either to persons 
or to property. The process of legally righting a wrong 
is by trial, which is the examination of a cause before a 
judge or court, having jurisdiction of the matters in con- 
troversy according to the laws of the land. Most trials in 
our country are jury trials. The trial by jury is of great 
antiquity. It is well established that it was in early times 
used by all the nations of northern Europe, although it 
was partially superseded by the introduction of the 
Norman trial by the wager of battle. But it was always 
highly valued by the people, and has long been con- 
sidered by the English speaking people as one of the chief 
bulwarks of their liberties which must be sacredly 
guarded. When a person is entitled to a trial by a jury 
he may waive his right, if he chooses to do so, and ask 
that the judge or the court render a decision. But in 
civil proceedings either the plaintiff or defendant may 
call for a jury. 

A Brief Summary. To give some general statements 
about trials is as much as can be done in a small elemen- 
tary treatise touching legal procedure. In every action 
relating to civil matters, the one who institutes the pro- 
ceeding is technically called the plaintiff, and the one 

149 



15 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

against whom the action is brought is called the defend- 
ant. The object ought to be to establish a right or to 
obtain a remedy. 

In every court there must be a judge who presides and 
directs the entire proceedings, and decides upon the rele- 
vancy of testimony, the application of the law, or what 
facts may be allowed as admissible. Every court of 
record has a clerk whose duty it is to keep a faithful 
minute and record of all the proceedings. A sheriff is in 
attendance, or deputy sheriff, who maintains order in the 
court room, obeys the order of the court, and serves its 
processes. The jury is composed of six or twelve men 
who are supposed to know nothing of the matter in con- 
troversy, but under the direction of the court they are to 
decide or pass upon matters of fact or evidence, while the 
court passes upon the law applicable to the case. After 
the jury has heard the evidence and listened to the 
speeches of the lawyers, they are left alone to arrive at 
a decision, technically called a verdict. A fuller descrip- 
tion will be given under the head of 

PLEADINGS 

The Pleadings are the mutual statements of the parties 
tG a cause, which set forth the matters in dispute between 
them. The practice is for the plaintiff to file a written 
statement by his attorney of the matters he complains of, 
and the defendant through his attorney files an answer in 
writing. The plaintiff's statement is called a declaration, 
complaint, petition or bill. Sometimes the answer of the 
defendant is of such a nature that the plaintiff finds it 
necessary to reply to it, and the defendant to answer 
again to the reply, and so on till a point is reached which 
one affirms and the other denies. These mutual state- 
ments and replies are called the pleadings, and the plead- 



TRIALS AT LAW 151 

ings are not, as may be supposed, the speeches made by 
the lawyers to the jury. 

"Whenever one person denies all the facts or any mate- 
rial fact charged by the other, with the intention of rest- 
ing his case on the truth or falsity of such fact or facts, 
the question thus raised is an issue of fact, and the person 
making the denial thereby raising the question and is 
willing to submit it to the decision of a jury, is said to 
tender an issue. This denial imposes upon the plaintiff 
the necessity of proving the facts so denied. The plaintiff 
has asserted their existence, their existence proved is 
necessary to sustain his case, otherwise he has asserted 
what can not be proved. If a plea does not deny all the 
facts alleged by the plaintiff, those not denied will be 
regarded as true. It may be that the defendant admits 
the facts stated by the plaintiff, but denies the jurisdic- 
tion of the court; or the defendant may admit the facts 
but claim that they are not sufficient in law to entitle the 
plaintiff to the redress he seeks. The filing of such a 
pleading is called a demurrer, and if the court sustains 
the demurrer, the plaintiff loses his case or he is allowed 
to amend his pleadings, or to appeal from the decision. 
A demurrer raises an issue of law. But a pleading which 
denies the allegations of the other's pleadings raises an 
issue of fact. 

Hear Both Sides. Frequently it happens that the 
plaintiff's cause of action shows a lawful demand and all 
the facts alleged are consistent with the truth, and yet the 
plaintiff may not be entitled to recover because of addi- 
tional facts not yet mentioned. In alleging such new fact 
or facts it now devolves upon the defendant to prove what 
he avers. A plea of this kind is called a special plea in 
bar, because it sets up some particular fact or facts to bar 
or stop the plaintiff's right to a cause of action. It is 



152 THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

also called a plea of confession and avoidance, because it 
admits the facts, but seeks to avoid their consequences by 
the introduction of some new matter which will prevent 
the plaintiff's recovery. 

Successive Stages. But if the plaintiff denies the fact 
set up by the defendant, he makes a plea which is called 
a replication. The plaintiff may admit what the defend- 
ant avers, but avoid it by asserting an additional fact or 
facts, and the case may hinge on the truth or falsity of 
this new fact. Thus, the pleadings may be strung out 
technically as follows: The cause of action filed by the 
plaintiff is usually called the declaration; the answer by 
the defendant, a plea; the reply to the plea, the replica- 
tion; the answer to that is a rejoinder, and the answer to 
a rejoinder, a surrejoinder. Occasionally the pleadings 
are carried further, as where the defendant answers a 
surrejoinder by a rebutter, and the plaintiff replies to 
that by a surrebutter. 

The Rule of Law. As a rule, the parties to a suit are 
required to prove what they assert, and no more. They 
should allege what is absolutely necessary; but some- 
times they entertain doubts as to the precise facts which 
will sustain them in law, and hence more than one count 
is frequently charged in the declaration, so that if one is 
ruled out by the court the other or others will hold, and 
in like manner the defendant may file several pleas, as it 
were, to the same cause of action, so that if any one plea 
can be sustained by sufficient proof, the plaintiff loses his 
case. 

If any of the pleas are frivolous, or irrelevant, it is not 
necessary for an attorney to present them, for the court 
will order them to be struck out when attention is called 
to the fact by the attorney of the opposite side. 



TEIALS AT LAW 153 

PLEAS IN ABATEMENT 

A Plea in Abatement is a matter of defense which 
defeats an action for the present, because of a defect in 
the writ or the declaration. If the defect is of the writ, it 
may be of an irregularity, or informality in its terms, 
form, issue, service, or return, or for want of jurisdic- 
tion of the court ; if to the action — as misconceived, or 
because the right has not yet accrued, or because another 
action is pending involving the same issue ; or it may be 
to the declaration on account of a misnomer of a party, 
the disability, alienage, infancy, coverture, lunacy, im- 
prisonment, or a variance between the writ and the 
instrument sued upon. None of these defects go to the 
merits of the case, and the most of them can be remedied 
by asking leave of the court to amend. Should the issue 
involved be a matter of law the judge decides it, but if 
it is an issue of fact, it is submitted to a jury unless the 
parties to the suit waive their right and agree to let the 
court decide. 

THE JURY 

The Jury is usually a body of twelve men summoned, 
from the residents of the county where the case is to be 
tried. They are impaneled and sworn to try the issue in 
the particular case and to render a verdict according to 
the law and the evidence. Objections may be made to 
some or all of the jurors summoned for various legal 
reasons. The right to peremptory challenge in civil suits 
is usually limited to a small number. After the jury has 
been duly impaneled and sworn to try the case, the 
counsel for the parties to the suit read or state the plead- 
ings, or the substance thereof to the jury, together with 
a summary of the evidence which will be produced in 
support of the issue. The counsel for the plaintiff states 
his side first, followed by a statement of the counsel for 



154 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

the defendant. These statements are intended to prepare 
the jurors to know what the suit is about and the nature 
of the evidence that will be introduced by each. 

What Constitutes Evidence. Evidence includes all the 
means by which any alleged matter of fact, the truth of 
which is submitted to investigation, is established or dis- 
proved. To prove a proposition or an issue is to show 
that it is true. Evidence in law includes statements made 
by witnesses under oath to tell the truth in relation to 
matters of fact under inquiry, and all legal documents, or 
certified copies of such documents, produced for the 
inspection of the court and the jury. Evidence in a 
general way is of three kinds, namely, conclusive, prima 
facie, and evidence tending to prove. Conclusive evidence 
is such evidence as the law does not allow to be con- 
tradicted, that is, it excludes all evidence to the contrary. 
Prima facie evidence is such evidence as in the judgment 
of the law, or in the absence of evidence to the contrary, 
is sufficient to establish the fact. Evidence tending to 
prove a fact is any competent evidence which tends to 
establish the existence of the fact in issue. It may be the 
best kind of evidence that the nature of the case admits 
of. ^Vhen evidence is offered, the judge decides all ques- 
tions as to its competency or its admissibility, but it is 
the province of the jury to determine its credibility, or 
how much weight it should have in their decision. But 
where evidence is once permitted to go to the jury they 
may give such degree of credence to it as they believe it 
is entitled to. 

Testimony of the Witness. "When a witness is called to 
testify, he is expected to state only such matters as have 
come within his own knowledge or observation. As a 
general rule, hearsay evidence is no evidence. There are 
a few exceptions to this rule, as the statement of a dying 



TRIALS AT LAW 155 

person who is dying from an injury received; or if a 
witness had made certain statements in court, and had 
afterwards died, witnesses may be summoned to state 
what he said. Witnesses are classified as competent, 
credible, interested, swift and zealous. A competent 
witness is a person who is legally qualified to give testi- 
mony; a credible witness is a person deserving of con- 
fidence, and is worthy of belief; an interested witness is a 
person who is directly interested in the result of the suit ; 
a swift or willing witness is a witness very eager to 
testify; a zealous witness is one who evinces partially 
for the party who calls him to testify. 

The Usual Custom. It is the common practice of each 
party before commencing to introduce his evidence, if 
requested by the party against whom they are to testify, 
to have all the witnesses retire from the court room, and 
then call in each witness separately to give his testimony 
and to be cross-examined. This is done so that each wit- 
ness may depend on his own memory. The order in which 
the witnesses are called is left to the counsel conducting 
the case. The plaintiff offers all the evidence he deems 
necessary before he announces that he has closed. Wit- 
nesses may be recalled later, however, to prove any new 
disclosure brought out by rebutting testimony offered by 
the opposing party. The examination of a witness by the 
party calling him is technically called the examination 
in chief. At the close of his testimony, he is then cross- 
examined. The cross-examination is for the purpose of 
ascertaining whether the witness has stated all he knows 
about the case, or whether he has suppressed any material 
facts. Leading questions may be put to him. If new 
matter is brought out in the cross-examination, then the 
witness may be further examined by the party that first 
called him. The defendant's witnesses are introduced 



156 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

and examined in the same manner as were the plaintiff's, 
and subject also to the same kind of cross-examination. 
Witnesses may be introduced either for the purpose of 
contradicting the witnesses of the other party, or of 
directly impeaching the credibility of the opposite party's 
witnesses by showing that they are unworthy of belief. 

Credibility of the Witness. If a witness sustains a bad 
reputation for truth and veracity, his statement under 
oath is not entitled to credit. In impeaching a witness 
the usual question asked the witness on the stand is: 
"Are you acquainted with the general character which 
A. B. sustains in this community for truth and veracity?" 
If the reply is in the affirmative, the witness is then 
asked: "What is that character?" The witness is re- 
quired to answer "It is good," or "It is bad." The 
witness may be further asked if he "would believe him 
under oath?" If he answers that he would not, the 
witness is then turned over to the opposing counsel who 
upon cross-examination endeavors to break down the 
testimony of the impeaching witness. Witnesses may 
also be introduced to establish the character of the 
impeached witness for truth and veracity. 

Depositions. Sometimes the testimony of witnesses is 
given in the form of depositions, which are the statements 
of witnesses taken under oath before a magistrate or 
notary public. The statute law of each state prescribes 
the mode of taking depositions. The opposite party must 
always have notice of the time and place of taking a 
deposition, so as to enable him to attend or to procure 
some competent person to represent him and to cross- 
examine the witness, should he wish to do so. The 
questions and answers are all written down, and at the 
close of the examination they are read over to the wit- 
ness; he suggests changes, perhaps, and then the state- 



TKIALS AT LAW 157 

ment is signed by him and properly certified to by the 
officer who took it, who then seals it and transmits it to 
the proper officer of the court. 

After both parties have offered all the evidence in 
support of their respective sides, then begin the argu- 
ments before the jury. 

THE ARGUMENT, INSTRUCTIONS, AND VERDICT 

The Argument. Great latitude is usually allowed in 
legal discussions, provided the counsel speak within 
reasonable bounds, because it is desirable that each party 
should be at liberty to say what he desires touching the 
case before final judgment is pronounced. It is clearly 
within the province of the court to check the speakers, 
and even to fine or to imprison them for breaches of 
decorum amounting to contempt of court. It is the rule 
for the affirmative to open and to close the argument. 
The length of time to be occupied by each side is fixed 
by the court, but the order in which the counsel shall 
speak is determined by the counsel of each side them- 
selves. Many persons have an idea that the speeches are 
the pleadings, but this is an erroneous view. See page 150. 
After the arguments are concluded, if the case has been 
tried before a magistrate or a judge, without a jury, the 
decision is given and judgment is rendered accordingly. 
If the judge is not ready to give his decision, he takes it 
under advisement until he, in compliance with the law, 
arrives at a conclusion. He may deliver his decision 
orally or in writing, as he may prefer. But if it be a jury 
case, after the argument has been concluded, the judge 
gives instructions to the jury on the law applicable to the 
case, and the jury then make an application of the law to 
the evidence, and thus determine in whose favor they 
should give a verdict. Usually the jury retire to a private 



158 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

room to consider the evidence and what kind of a verdict 
should be rendered. Occasionally a case is so one-sided 
that a verdict is rendered without leaving the jury box. 
The jury is conducted to the private room by the sheriff 
or his deputy, and they are kept from communication 
with all outside persons, and sometimes without food, 
until they are unanimously agreed. Sometimes the jury 
can not agree, and the fact is so stated by the foreman, 
and the jury is discharged by the court, and the case is 
to be tried anew. 

Form of Verdict Varies. The form of a verdict varies 
with the nature of the case. It is always a finding for 
one of the parties, and when a sum of money is sued for, 
it ascertains and fixes the amount. Where the jury have 
agreed upon a verdict they are conducted by the sheriff 
or his deputy to the court room, and upon taking their 
seats, they are asked by the judge if they have agreed, 
and the one who has been elected foreman says they have, 
and he presents the verdict in writing. It is then read 
by the clerk, and if they have made any error in mere 
matter of form it is corrected under the direction of the 
judge, before it is entered as a matter of record. If 
either party thinks that the judgment ought not to be 
pronounced against him, he may make a motion for an 
arrest of judgment or for a new trial. When a judgment 
is arrested, the result is the same as if there had been no 
trial. When a new trial is granted the case is tried before 
another jury. 

THE JUDGMENT 

The Judgment is the sentence of the law pronounced 
by the court upon the matter contained in the record. 
A final judgment is the one which at once puts an end to 




O 

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TRIALS AT LAW 159 

the suit. A judgment thus solemnly rendered by a court 

having competent jurisdiction is conclusive, and can not 
be set aside within the jurisdiction where it is rendered, 
unless it be reversed by a superior court on proceedings 
instituted for that purpose. A judgment stands as a lien 
upon the property of the party till the judgment is paid. 

There are two ways of satisfying a judgment: by pay- 
ing it off, or by means of a writ called an execution, 
which is to carry the judgment into effect to enforce 
satisfaction. If a judgment be not stayed, suspended, 
satisfied, or reversed, the plaintiff is entitled at any time 
to request an execution to be issued. Executions may be 
against the property or the person of the defendant, But 
the most common species of execution is the fiera facias, 
because it commands the sheriff to cause to ~be made the 
sum or debt out of the property of the defendant. Certain 
property is exempt under statutory law in each state. 
The taking possession of property for the recovery of a 
debt is a levy, and the next step after the levy has been 
made legally is to advertise the property for sale to the 
highest bidder. The sheriff at the date and place adver- 
tised proceeds to sell the property, and the money re- 
ceived is applied to the payment of the debt. 

Do Not Go To Law. A few words concerning the cost 
of civil suits will now be given. The losing party against 
whom final judgment is rendered pays the cost in the 
prosecution of the suit. If the plaintiff sues and the 
verdict is for the defendant, then the cost is assessed 
against the plaintiff, unless he institutes proceedings as 
a poor person. It frequently happens that a case is con- 
tinued at the cost of the one who asks for the continuance. 

A word of advice will not be amiss here: Avoid going 
to law if possible. 



160 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

Upon what idea was the trial by jury founded? What were the 
kinds of trials persons were subjected to in early times? Can 
you give a sketch of a jury trial? What is meant by trying one 
by his peers? When may the trial by a jury be waived? Define 
declaration, answer, demurrer, replication, rebutter, surrebutter, 
jury, verdict, judgment, execution. What is the difference between 
an issue of fact and an issue of law? How much property in 
your state is exempt from execution under law? How may 
witnesses be classified? Have you ever attended a trial? 



CHAPTER XVI 
CRIMINAL LAW 

A Crime Defined. A criminal offense is an act done or 
omitted in violation of the laws of the country, forbidding 
the act committed, or commanding that it be omitted, and 
declaring such an act or omission to be a crime. A crime 
is, therefore, an act committed or omitted in violation of 
public law. The right to punish crime depends primarily 
on the right of the state to protect itself. An idiot, a 
lunatic, or a little child can not commit a crime, because 
such a one does not know right from wrong, and can not 
be held responsible for his actions. 

A Distinction. There are two words in common use, 
"crimes" and "misdemeanors," while not differing in 
legal signification, yet "crimes" is of a more serious 
nature than "misdemeanors." Crimes are sometimes 
spoken of as felonies and misdemeanors. Felonies are 
such offenses as are punishable with death or imprison- 
ment in a state penitentiary, and misdemeanors are 
offenses of a lower grade and lighter punishments. To 
constitute a crime there must not only be an act done, but 
there must also be a will or intention to do it. The 
mere intention to commit a crime, if never carried into 
effect, can not be punished by temporal tribunals, though 
properly there is a violation of the moral law. It is of the 
utmost importance that one should inform himself what 
acts are criminal, because ignorance is not an excuse in 
law. 

161 



162 THE DESIEABLE CITIZEN 

The criminal law deals not with intentions, but with 
overt acts. But sometimes it happens that a man attempts 
to commit a crime, and for some purpose of which he is 
ignorant, he can not commit it, yet he is held to be crim- 
inally responsible. A good illustration is picking a pocket 
when there is nothing in the pocket, or to attempt to 
shoot another w T ith an unloaded gun, believing it to be 
loaded. In such cases the person is generally held to be 
criminally responsible. 

There are many kinds of crimes, and in the commission 
there may be one or more persons guilty as principals and 
accessories. The principal is the actor or actual perpe- 
trator of the crime, or who is present aiding and abetting 
in the commission of the crime. He may not do the deed 
himself with his own hands to constitute him the prin- 
cipal. He may be the murderer by the means that he had 
prepared beforehand. Thus, if one should prepare a 
poison and induce another to drink it at some future 
time, or should set a gun whereby another is killed, in 
all such cases the person who prepared the means will be 
deemed as having committed the crime. It is not abso- 
lutely necessary that the principal be present when the 
crime is committed. He may be off watching, but he is 
said to be constructively present. 

Accessories, An accessory is not the chief actor at the 
time of the offense, nor need he be present either actively 
or constructively, but he is connected with the offense 
before or after it is committed. Accessories are of two 
kinds : those before the fact and those after the fact. An 
accessory before the fact is one who had counseled, 
advised, or commanded another to perpetrate the offense. 
Mere concealment of a crime to be committed, or mere 
tacit acquiescence, does not make one an accessory, 
though he is liable to punishment. An accessory after 



CRIMINAL LAW 163 

the fact is one who knowing that a crime has been com- 
mitted, conceals, or gives aid and comfort to the offender 
to enable him to avoid arrest, trial, conviction, or punish- 
ment. The assistance must be of a positive kind, and for 
the purpose of hindering justice or to escape punishment. 
If a person advises another to commit an offense, and 
instead of doing that particular thing, the other should 
do an entirely different thing, the one would not be an 
accessory. 

HOMICIDE 

Homicide is the killing of any human creature, and in 
law there are three kinds — justifiable, excusable, and 
felonious homicide. It is justifiable when life is taken by 
the proper officer of the law in pursuance of the lawful 
sentence of a court; or in the lawful defense of one's 
own property or life. In the execution of a legal sentence 
the public officer must follow the provisions of the law 
exactly. He must execute the very sentence and no other. 
Should one person assault another with the intention of 
killing him, the one thus assaulted may kill his assailant 
in self-defense and it would be justifiable homicide. The 
killing* of an enemy in time of war, or the execution of 
persons for breaches of military rules, is based on the 
same doctrine. 

Excusable homicide is where a life is lost by an accident 
in the lawful doing of a proper act, or is taken to prevent 
death or a grievous injury to another person. Should the 
head of a hatchet fly off when a man is using it, and it 
strikes another and kills him, it is excusable homicide. 
Street car, automobile and other serious accidents are 
good illustrations, where there is no intent to commit a 
crime. Under such cases it is necessary to establish the 
fact that the one was using the utmost care and that the 



164 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

accident under the circumstances could not have been 
prevented. 

Felonious homicide is the killing of a human being, of 
any age or sex, without justification or excuse. The 
different degrees of guilt give rise to divisions of this 
offense into manslaughter and murder. The highest grade 
of murder is that of the first degree which is the unlawful 
and felonious killing of another human being with malice 
aforethought. However the murder may be committed 
by which human nature is overcome, it is murder in the 
first degree. 

Murder in the second degree is like murder in the first 
degree, but it lacks premeditation which is the essential 
element in murder of the first degree. It has the element 
of malice in it, but not as already stated of forethought, 
or premeditation. 

Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another human 
being without malice, and it is either voluntary or invol- 
untary. Should one person kill another in the heat of a 
sudden passion, or under the stress of a tremendous and 
sudden excitement caused by some instant provocation, it 
would be voluntary manslaughter. The passion should be 
very powerful and the cause of provocation great, but if 
there be malice aforethought which led to the murder, it 
would not be manslaughter. The idea of malice must be 
absent in the mind of the slayer to constitute man- 
slaughter. 

Involuntary manslaughter is the killing of a human 
being without malice and with no intent to kill, or to 
cause death, but committed accidentally in doing an 
unlawful act in itself, or a lawful act in an unlawful or 
careless way. The true nature of manslaughter is, that 
it is homicide mitigated out of tenderness to the frailty 



CRIMINAL LAW 165 

of human nature. The homicide may be the result of 
recklessness or of foolhardiness. 

As a result of the commission of infamous crimes of an 
aggravated character, in addition to the legal punish- 
ments pronounced by the court or the jury, the con- 
demned are disfranchised and rendered incapable of hold- 
ing any office of honor or trust under the national or state 
government. 

OTHER CRIMES 

Among the crimes of less magnitude than homicide 
may be mentioned arson, burglary, larceny, libel and 
slander, perjury, forgery, etc. 

Arson. Arson is the malicious and wilful burning of a 
house or outhouse of another person. It is arson if one 
should set fire to his own house and thereby burn his 
neighbor's house, or if one should set fire to his own house 
in order to collect the insurance on it. The crime of arson 
has always been considered as a very heinous offense, 
besides causing great damage, it frequently results in 
murder. The burning must be occasioned maliciously and 
voluntarily. There must be an actual burning of the 
house or some part of it. The statute law of each state 
defines arson and specifies the punishment, which is 
usually very severe. 

Burglary. Burglary is the breaking into and entering 
the house of another in the night time with intent to com- 
mit a felony, whether the felony be actually committed or 
not. The breaking may mean the lifting of a latch, the 
removal of a portion of a window, or by getting in by an 
artifice. The intent must be to commit robbery, murder, 
or other felony, whether the crime be actually com- 
mitted or not. To break into a church or a school house 
at night with the intention to steal is burglary. By night 



Iqq THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

is meant when there is not sufficient light to discern 
clearly a man's face. If there is no intent to murder, to 
rob, or to commit some other felonious crime, the entry 
would be trespass. 

Larceny. Larceny is the felonious taking and carrying 
away the goods of another. There must be an actual 
taking of the personal goods without his consent. The 
taking must be felonious, or with the intention to steal 
the thing taken, and this intention must exist at the time 
the goods first come into the possession of the offender. 
But if one comes into the possession of goods or money 
lawfully, and then decides to convert them to his own use 
and does so, that is not larceny, but embezzlement. Lar- 
ceny relates to personal property. Should one leave his 
goods with another as security for a debt, and then steal 
his own goods that would be larceny. 

Robbery. Robbery is a species of larceny, but it differs 
in this respect: It is the felonious and forcible taking 
from the person of another goods or money by violence 
or putting him in fear. There must be a taking from the 
person of the ow T ner to constitute robbery, or if by threats, 
the property is taken in the presence of the owner, though 
not from his person. If a thief snatches an article of 
slight value and runs off with it, it is robbery, and if a 
man be knocked down, though insensible, and stripped of 
his valuables, it is robbery. Picking one's pocket quietly 
where there is no struggle is not robbery, it is larceny. 
The element of fear or intimidation must enter into the 
offense to constitute robbery. 

Libel and Slander. It is a theory of the common law 
that every person is entitled to a good reputation, and 
that any injuries affecting a man's reputation and good 
name are malicious. Scandalous and slanderous words, 
and any printed or written libels, pictures, signs, etc., 



CEIMINAL LAW 1(37 

which set him in an odious and ridiculous light before the 
public and thereby diminish his reputation, are slanderous. 
If false, defamatory words be written and published, they 
constitute libel, but if spoken they constitute slander. 
Libel is addressed to the eye, and slander to the ear. Libel 
is the more aggravated, because the printed page far ex- 
ceeds in circulation spoken words. A libel may be a cari- 
cature, a scandalous painting, a drawing or an ef&gy. It is 
essential in order for an action for either libel or slander, 
that the defamatory words be printed or spoken and that 
they reach a third person. If a letter containing defama- 
tory words be written to one and to no other, and he 
shows the letter to another person, it is not libel, for the 
publication is his own act. Likewise if one shouts a 
slander and no one hears him, it is not slander. The 
communication between a husband and wife in regard to 
a third person is a privileged communication and is not 
regarded as slander, and it is not deemed a publication; 
but if it be in the hearing of a third person there is 
publication. A slander or libel against either husband or 
wife, if heard by the other, is a publication of that fact. 
The words spoken or written must have a malicious intent 
and designed to injure the person in his business relations, 
or in his moral character in the estimation of right-minded 
people. A suit thus brought is to obtain damages for the 
injury sustained. 

Perjury. Perjury is where a lawful oath is adminis- 
tered, in some judicial proceeding, to a person who swears 
wilfully, absolutely and falsely, in a matter material to 
the issue, or point of inquiry; or under oath he wilfully 
gives false testimony on a matter material to the point in 
issue ; or even taking a false oath in a judicial proceeding. 
The false statement must be made wilfully, because this is 
essential to the crime. The offense is extended to all cases 



168 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

of false swearing. For the punishment of perjury and 
other state offenses, the reader should consult the statutes 
of his own state. 

Forgery. Forgery at common law is the fraudulent 
making or altering of a writing to the prejudice of 
another man's rights. The altered instrument itself is 
also called a forgery. Forgery involves both fraud and 
deceit. Forgery may be committed either by making an 
instrument in writing wholly false, or by making a 
fraudulent insertion, alteration, or erasure in any mate- 
rial part of a true document, by which another may be 
defrauded. The fraudulent application of a false signa- 
ture to a true instrument, or a genuine signature to a false 
instrument, the altering of a bank note, a check, draft, or 
a note of hand, from a higher to a lower, or from a lower 
to a higher value, however slight the alteration, is a 
forgery. The alteration must carry with it the intention 
to defraud some person. Counterfeiting is only one 
species of forgery. The forgery is said to be complete 
when the forger, by word or act, declares that the forged 
instrument is genuine when he knows that it is false. 

Breaches of the Peace. A breach of the peace is any 
violation of public order; an offense of disturbing the 
peace ; an act of assault or violence. In general, breaches 
of the peace include unlawful assemblies, riots, affrays, 
forcible entry and detainer, the wanton discharge of fire 
arms near a sick person, sending challenges and provok- 
ing fights, going armed in public without lawful cause, 
to the alarm of the public ; profane cursing and swearing 
in public places, profanation of the Lord's Day, engaging 
in a fight to the terror of peaceably disposed citizens, — 
and all similar offenses. 

Notwithstanding much has been said about crimes and 
criminals, the author can not close this little volume more 



CEIMINAL LAW 169 

appropriately than by inserting the following quotation 
by Charles P. Johnson: 

We Punish the Mind; Not the Body 

We are not ll coddling " the criminal in this or any other 
country. The law is just as full of vengeance to-day as it was 
one century or two centuries ago. 

Our methods and ideas of punishment are founded on the old 
Mosaic law of "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. " 

We took our methods direct from the common law of England, 
the same England that at one time had over sixty crimes punish- 
able by death upon her statutes. Our criminal system is changed 
in form but not in effect. It punishes the mind now where it 
once tortured the body. 

Every man who is about to serve upon a jury where the penalty 
may be either a long sentence in the workhouse or a sentence in 
the state prison, should be required to spend a number of days in 
getting a true understanding of what a prison sentence means. 
He should submit to confinement himself for a period long enough 
that he might understand its terrors. 

It should be remembered that the prisoner is a man. 

MOOT COURT CASES* 

Let the teacher divide his class into two divisions and 
give them one of the propositions below as a moot court 
case for argument. Let them have a week or more for 
preparation. One of the class might sit as judge or there 
might be several judges. Impress upon the judges that 
they are to strive just as earnestly to give a correct de- 
cision as the debaters are to strive to win. The teacher 
may be the appellate court, and affirm or reverse the de- 
cision of the " court below." 

1. Jones contracted to work for Brown for $50.00 a 
month, agreeing that if he left without giving at least two 
weeks' notice he should receive nothing for wages due 
at time of leaving. After having worked for several 

* From the "Stato Normal Record." 



170 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

months, he was arrested for a misdemeanor, convicted, 
and sentenced to three months in jail. He was unable 
under these circumstances, to give his employer the two 
weeks' notice agreed upon. At the time of his arrest there 
was due him $40.00 as wages. After serving his sentence 
he demanded of Brown the $40.00 that he claimed was due 
him, but Brown refused to pay him anything. Brown had 
been damaged more than $40.00 by the loss of Jones' 
services. Can Jones recover anything? 

2. Kelley wrote Moore the following letter : 

In consequence of a break in the salt trade, I am authorized to 
offer Michigan fine salt, in full carload lots of 80 to 95 barrels, 
delivered at your city, at 85 cents a barrel, to be shipped per L. S. 
E. R. only. At this price it is a bargain, as the price in general 
remains unchanged. Shall be pleased to receive your order. 

Moore replied by telegram : 

Your letter of yesterday received and noted. You may ship 2,000 
barrels Michigan fine salt, as offered in your letter. Answer. 

Kelley refused to fill the order, and Moore sued him for 
damages for breach of contract. Can Moore recover 
damages? 

3. On the first of May, 1912, the merchants of Russell- 
ville signed an agreement as follows : 

We, the undersigned, merchants of Russellville, do hereby agree 
and obligate ourselves to close our places of business at six-thirty 
o'clock, beginning May 15, 1912, and lasting until the first of 
September. 

After carrying out this agreement for a few evenings, 
John Wilson, one of the signers, notified the other mer- 
chants that he declined to comply further with the agree- 
ment. He proceeded to disregard it, and the other mer- 
chants brought injunction against him to compel him to 
close his store as he had agreed to do. What decision? 



CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.* 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more 
perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, 
provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, 
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, 
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States 
of America.* 

ARTICLE I. 

Section. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested 
in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate 
and House of Eepresentatives. 

Section. 2. [§ 1.] The House of Eepresentatives shall be com- 
posed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the 
several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifi- 
cations requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the 
State Legislature.* 

[§ 2.] No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have 
attained to the Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a 
Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an 
Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

[§ 3.] Eepresentatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several States which may be included within this Union, 
according to their respective Numbers, [which shall be determined 
by adding to the whole Number of free Persons,] including those 
bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not 
taxed, [three fifths of all other Persons] f. The actual Enumeration 
shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the 
Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term 

* There is no title in the original manuscript. 

* The original document is followed in the use of capital letters and 
in orthography. 

* Modified by Fourteenth Amendment. 

171 



172 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The 
Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; 
[and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New 
Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New- 
York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Mary- 
land six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and 
Georgia three.] t 

[§ 4.] When vacancies happen in the Representation from any 
State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election 
to fill such Vacancies. 

[§ 5.] Tne House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker 
and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. 

Section. 3. [§ 1.] The Senate of the United States shall be 
composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature 
thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. 

[§ 2.] Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence 
of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into 
three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be 
vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class 
at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the 
Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every 
second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, 
during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive 
thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting 
of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies. 

[§ 3.] No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained 
to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of 
that State for which he shall be chosen. 

[§ 4.] The Vice President of the United States shall be President 
of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. 

[§ 5.] The Senate shall chuse their other Officers and also a 
President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or 
when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States. 

[§ 6.] The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeach- 
ments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or 
Affirmation. When the President of the L^nited States is tried, the 

t Superseded by Fourteenth Amendment. 
t Temporary clause. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 173 

Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted with- 
out the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. 

[§ 7.] Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further 
than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy 
any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the 
Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indict- 
ment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. 

Section. 4. [§ 1.] The Times, Places and Manner of holding 
Elections for Senators and Eepresentatives, shall be prescribed in 
each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any 
time by Law make or alter such Eegulations, except as to the Places 
of chusing Senators. 

[§ 2.] The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, 
and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless 
they shall by Law appoint a different Day. 

Section. 5. [§ 1.] Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, 
Eeturns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of 
each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number 
may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the 
attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such 
Penalties as each House may provide. 

[§ 2.] Each House may determine the Eules of its Proceedings, 
punish its Members for Disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Con- 
currence of two thirds, expel a Member. 

[§ 3.] Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and 
from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may 
in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the 
Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one 
fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal. 

[§ 4.] Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, with- 
out the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor 
to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be 
sitting. 

Section 6. [§ 1.] The Senators and Eepresentatives shall receive 
a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and 
paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all 
Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privi- 
leged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their 
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; 
and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be 
questioned in any other Place 



174 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN; 

[§ 2.] No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for 
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the 
Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or 
the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; 
and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a 
Member of either House during his Continuance in Office. 

Section. 7. [§ 1.] All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate 
in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or con- 
cur with Amendments as on other Bills. 

[§ 2.] Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Repre- 
sentatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be pre- 
sented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall 
sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that 
House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objec- 
tions at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If 
after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to 
pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the 
other House, by which it .shall likewise be reconsidered, and if 
approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a .Law. But 
in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by 
yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against 
the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. 
If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days 
(Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the 
same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case 
it shall not be a Law. 

[§ 3.] Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except 
on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President 
of the United States; and before the same shall take Effect, shall be 
approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by 
two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to 
the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill. 

Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power [§ 1.] To lay and 
collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and 
provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United 
States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform through- 
out the United States; 

[§ 2.] To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 175 

[§ 3.] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among 
the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; 

[§ 4.] To establish an uniform Eule of Naturalization, and 
uniform Laws 021 the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United 
States; 

[§ 5.] To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign 
Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; 

[§ 6.] To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the 
Securities and current Coin of the United States; 

[§ 7.] To establish Post Offices and post Eoads; 

[§ 8.] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by 
securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive 
Eight to their respective Writings and Discoveries; 

[§ 9.] To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; 

[§ 10.] To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on 
the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; 

[§ 11.] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Eeprisal, 
and make Eules concerning Captures on Land and Water; 

[§ 12.] To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of 
Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years ; 

[§ 13.] To provide and maintain a Navy; 

[§ 14.] To make Eules for the Government and Eegulation of 
the land and naval Forces; 

[§ 15.] To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the 
Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; 

[§ 16.] To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the 
Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in 
the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, 
the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the 
Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; 

[§ 17.] To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, 
over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by 
Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become 
the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise 
like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legis- 
lature of the State in which the same shall be, for the Erection of 
Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock- Yards, and other needful Build- 
ings; — And 

[§ 18.] To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper 
for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other 



176 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United 
States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. 

Section. 9. [§ 1.] [The Migration or Importation of such Per- 
sons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, 
shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thou- 
sand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on 
such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.]* 

[§ 2.] The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be 
suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public 
Safety may require it. 

[§ 3.] No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be 
passed.f 

[§ 4.] No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless 
in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed 
to be taken. 

[§ 5.] No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from 
any State. 

[§ 6.] No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Com- 
merce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: 
nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, 
clear, or pay Duties in another. 

[§ 7.] No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Con- 
sequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement 
and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money 
shall be published from time to time. 

[§ 8.] No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United 
States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under 
them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any 
present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from 
any King, Prince, or foreign State. $ 

Section. 10. [§ 1.] No State shall enter into any Treaty, 
Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; 
coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and 
silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of 
Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of 
Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. 

[§ 2.] No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay 
any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be 

* Temporary provision. 

t Extended by the first eight Amendments. 

t Extended by Ninth and Tenth Amendments. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 177 

absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws: and the net 
Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or 
Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; 
and all such Laws shall be subject to the Eevision and Controul of 
the Congress. 

[§ 3.] No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any 
Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, 
enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with 
a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in 
such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.* 

ARTICLE. II. 

Section. 1. [§ 1.] The executive Power shall be vested in a 
President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office 
during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice Presi- 
dent, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows 

[§ 2.] Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legis- 
lature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole 
Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be 
entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Per- 
son holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, 
shall be appointed an Elector. 

[The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an 
Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make 
a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for 
each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed 
to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the 
President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the 
Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the 
Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having 
the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Num- 
ber be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and 
if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an 
equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall 
immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no 
Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the 
said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing 
the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation 
from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall 

* Extended by Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. 



178 THE DESIEABLE CITIZEN 

consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and 
a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every 
Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the 
greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. 
But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the 
Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.]* 

[§ 3.] The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the 
Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which 
Day shall be the same throughout the United States. 

[§ 4.] No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of 
the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, 
shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person 
be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of 
thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Eesident within the 
United States. 

[§ 5.] In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or 
of his Death, Eesignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and 
Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice Presi- 
dent, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Eemoval, 
Death, Eesignation, or Inability, both of the President and Vice 
President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and 
such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, 
or a President shall be elected.* 

[§ 6.] The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Serv- 
ices, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminshed 
during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall 
not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United 
States, or any of them. 

[§ 7.] Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall 
take the following Oath or Affirmation: — 

U I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 
"the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best 
"of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the 
"United States. " 

Section. 2. [§ 1.] The President shall be Commander in Chief 
of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of 
the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United 
States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal 
Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relat- 

* Superseded by Twelfth Amendment. 

* See page 94. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 179 

ing to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power 
to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United 
States, except in Cases of Impeachment. 

[§ 2.] He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent 
of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators 
present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice 
and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public 
Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other 

[§ 2.] The Privilege of the Writ of w?;]8shrdlu etaoinunp unp 
Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but 
the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior 
Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts 
of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. 

[§ 3.] The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies 
that may happen during the Eecess of the Senate, by granting Com- 
missions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. 

Section. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress 
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Con- 
sideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; 
he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either 
of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Eespect 
to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as 
he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public 
Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, 
and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States. 

Section. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers 
of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment 
for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and 
Misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. 

Section. 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be 
rested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the 
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, 
both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices dur- 
ing good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their 
Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their 
Continuance in Office. 

Section. 2. [§ 1.] The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, 
in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the 



180 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under 
their Authority; — to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public 
Ministers and Consuls; — to all Cases of admiralty and maritime 
Jurisdiction; — to Controversies to which the United States shall be 
a Party; — to Controversies between two or more States; — between 
a State and Citizens of another State;" — between Citizens of differ- 
ent States, — between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands 
under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens 
thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. 

[§ 2.] In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers 
and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme 
Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before 
mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both 
as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regula- 
tions as the Congress shall make. 

[§ 3.] The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, 
shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where 
the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed 
within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the 
Congress may by Law have directed. 

Section. 3. [§ 1.] Treason against the United States, shall con- 
sist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their 
Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be con- 
victed of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the 
same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. 

[§ 2.] The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment 
of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of 
Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Section 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to 
the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other 
State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Man- 
ner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, 
and the Effect thereof. 

Section. 2. [§ 1.] The Citizens of each State shall be entitled 
to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.* 

[§ 2.] A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or 
other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another 

* Limited by Eleventh Amendment. 

* Extended by Fourteenth Amendment. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 181 

State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from 
which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having 
Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

[§ 3.] [No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under 
the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of 
any Law or Eegulation therein, be discharged from such Service or 
Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom 
such Service or Labour may be due.Jt 

Section. 3. [§ 1.] New States may be admitted by the Con- 
gress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected 
within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed 
by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without 
the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of 
the Congress. 

[§ 2.] The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all 
needful Eules and Eegulations respecting the Territory or other 
Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this 
Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the 
United States, or of any particular State. 

Section. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in 
this Union a Eepublican Form of Government, and shall protect each 
of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or 
of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against 
domestic Violence. 

AETICLE. V. 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it 
necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the 
Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, 
shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either 
Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Con- 
stitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the 
several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one 
or the other Mode of Eatification may be proposed by the Congress; 
Provided [that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year 
One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the 
first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; 
and]* that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its 
equal Suffrage in the Senate. 

t Superseded by Thirteenth Amendment. 
* Temporary provision. 



182 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

ARTICLE. VI. 

[§ 1.] All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, 
before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against 
the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confedera- 
tion.* 

[§ 2.] This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which 
shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which 
shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, snail be 
the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be 
bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State 
to the Contrary notwithstanding. 

[§ 3.] The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and 
the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and 
judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, 
shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; 
but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any 
Office or public Trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE. VII. 

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be suffi- 
cient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States 
so ratifying the Same. 

TNntP of thP rirnno-hts- ^ DoNE in Convention by the Unanimous 

man a ? to intPrlinPations Consent of the States present the Seven- 

in thP tPxt of e manu teenth ^^ of September in the Year of 

JSrint l manu- om . Lord nne thousand seven hundred and 

At+pU Eighty seven and of the Independence of 

wttttaai Tinir^T the United States of America the Twelfth 

William Jackson |n Wjtness W hereof We have hereunto sub- 

bvtreiaiy. scr ibed our names.* 

Go WASHINGTON— 
Presidt and deputy from Virginia. 

Delaware. New Hampshire. 

Geo: Bead John Langdon 

Gunning Bedford jun Nicholas Gilman 
John Dickinson Massachusetts. 

BlCHARD BASSETT NATHANIEL GORHAM 

Jaco: Broom Rufus King 

* Extended by Fourteenth Amendment. Section 4. 

t These signatures have no other legal force than that of attestation. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 



183 



Maryland. 
James McHenry 
Dan of St. Thos. Jenifer 
Danl Carroll 

Virginia. 
John Blair — 
James 1 Madison Jr. 

North Carolina. 
Wm. Blount 

ElCHD. DOBBS SPAIGHT 

Hu Williamson 

Georgia. 
William Few 
Abr Baldwin 

South Carolina. 
J. Eutledge, 
Charles Cotes worth 

Pinckney 
Charles Pinckney 
Pierce Butler. 



Connecticut. 
Wm. Saml. Johnson 
Roger Sherman 

New York. 
Alexander Hamilton 

New Jersey. 
Wil: Livingston 
David Brearley 
Wm: Paterson. 
Jona: Dayton 

Pennsylvania. 
B Franklin 
Thomas Mifflin 
Eobt. Morris 
Geo. Clymer 
Thos. Fitz Simons 
Jared Ingersoll 
James Wilson 
Gouv Morris 



AETICLES in addition to and Amendment of the Constitution of 
the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by 
the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article 
of the original Constitution.* 

[ARTICLE I.]t 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, 
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom 
of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to 
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 



[ARTICLE II.] 

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free 
State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be 
infringed. 

* This heading appears only in the joint resolution submitting the 
first ten amendments. 

t In the original manuscripts the first twelve amendments have no 
numbers. 



184 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

[ARTICLE III.] 

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be 'quartered in any house, 
-without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a man- 
ner to be prescribed by law. 

[ARTICLE IV.] 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall 
not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable 
cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing 
the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

[ARTICLE V.] 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand 
Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
Militia, w 7 hen in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor 
shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in 
jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal 
case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, 
or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property 
be taken for public use, without just compensation. 

[ARTICLE VI.] 

In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a 
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and dis- 
trict wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district 
shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed 
of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the 
witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for 
his defence. 

[ARTICLE VII.] 

In suits at common law, where tne value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, 
and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any 
Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the com- 
mon law. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 185 

[ARTICLE VIII.] 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

[ARTICLE IX.] 

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not 
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

[ARTICLE X.] 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, 
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respect- 
ively, or to the people.* 

[ARTICLE XL] 

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to 
extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against 
one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens 
or Subjects of any Foreign State.t 

[ARTICLE XIL] 

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by 
ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall 
not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall 
name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in dis- 
tinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall 
make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all 
persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes 
for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed 
to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the 
President of the Senate; — The President of the Senate shall, in the 
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the 
certificates and the votes shall then be counted; — The person having 
the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, 
if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors 
appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the per- 
sons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of 
those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall 

* Amendments First to Tenth appear to h?ve been in force from 
Nov. 3, 1791. 

t Proclaimed to be in force Jan. 8, 1798. 



186 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the 
President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from 
each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist 
of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a 
majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the 
House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the 
right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of 
March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as Presi- 
dent, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability 
of the President. — The person having the greatest number of votes 
as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no per- 
son have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, 
the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose 
shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a 
majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But 
no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall 
be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.* 

Article XIII. 

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as 
a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
victed, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to 
their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce 
this article by appropriate legislation.* 

Article XIV. 

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United 
States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or 
enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of 
citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any per- 
son of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor 
deny to any person within its jurisdictoin the equal protection of the 
laws. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the sev- 
eral States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole 
number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But 

* Proclaimed to be in force Sept. 25, 1804. 

* Proclaimed to be in force Dec. 18, 1865. Bears the unnecessary 
approval of the President. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 187 

when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for 
President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives 
in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the 
members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male 
inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens 
of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participa- 
tion in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein 
shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male 
citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one 
years of age in such State. 

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Eepresentative in 
Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any 
office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, 
who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or 
as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legis- 
lature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support 
the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insur- 
rection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to 
the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of 
each House, remove such disability. 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions 
and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, 
shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any 
State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of 
insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for 
the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations 
and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appro- 
priate legislation, the provisions of this article.* 

ARTICLE XV.f 

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State 
on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. — 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article 
by appropriate legislation. — % 

The above text is from the Original Manuscript Bolls. 

* Proclaimed to be in force July 28, 1868. 

f Amendments Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth are numbered in 
the original manuscripts. 

$ Proclaimed to be in force Mar. 30, 1870. 



TOPICAL INDEX 



Abstracts, 44 

Accessories, to a crime, 162 
Acquisition of Property, 112 
Adjournment of Congress, 71 
Agencies, 144 
Agreements, 118 
Argument, The, 157 
Appeal, The, 65 
Appointments, 88 
Assessor, 44 
Attorney, 38 

Bailment, contracts of, 132 

Bills of Exchange, 130 

Board, school, 20, 47; of public works, 

46; of health, 47 
Breaches of the Peace, 168 

Cabinet, The, 84 

Campaign, The, 59 

Citizen, derivation and meaning of 
the word, 12; in the township, 
28; rights and duties of, 103 

Citizenship, 24 

City, how distinguished from a town, 
42; mayor, 43; council, 43; coun- 
selor, 43; treasurer, 44; assessor, 
44; collector, 44; chief of police, 
44; government, 45; revenue, 45; 
board of public works, 46; fire 
and water, 46; health depart- 
ment, 47; department of educa- 
tion, 46 

Civil Government, defined, 12 

Checks, 132 

Collector, 44 

Committees, of State legislature, 55; 
of the House, 77 ; of the whole, 79 

Common Carriers, 134 

Congress, adjournment of, 71; organi- 
zation of, 72; powers of, 92 

Constitution, The, 68 

Contracts, 117, 124, 132, 138 

Coroner, 40 

Council, 43 



Counselor, 43 

County. 34 

County Officers, election of, 35, 58 

salaries of, 40 
County Seat, 35 
Courts, of the State, 61; Circuit, 64, 

100; criminal, 65; appellate, 66, 

100; Supreme, 67, 99; claims, 100; 

inferior courts, 101 
Crime, defined, 161 
Criminal law, 61, 161 

Deeds, 39, 107, 129 
Department of State, 85 
Department of the Treasury, 86 
Depositions, 156 
Description of Land, 128 

Election, of township oflicers, 28; 
of county officers, 35; of State 
oflicers, 56; of the President, 81 

Election Day, 59 

Estates, 109 

Exchange, 124; bills of, 130 

Execution of a Contract, 119 

Executive Department, of a State, 
52; of the United States, 81 

Evidence, what constitutes, 154 

Family, The, derivation and mean- 
ing, 15; parental government in, 
18 

Forgery, 168 

Fraud, 121 

Government, necessity of, 11; in the 
school, 19; parental, 18; town- 
ship, 27; county, 36; cities, 42; 
State, 50; United States, 68 

Governor, The, 52 

Grand Jury, The, 64 

Health, board of, 47 
Homicide, 163 
Hotel Keepers, 136 
House of Representatives, The, 75; 
committees of, 77; powers. 91 



189 



i 



190 



THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 



Inaugural Address, 53 
Individual Rights, 103 
Inferior Courts, 101 
Institutions, five important, 19 

Judgment, The, 158 

Judges, county, 36; salaries of, 101 

Judicial Department, The, of cities, 

46; of the State, 61 ; of the United 

States, 98 
Jury, The, 158 
Justice of the Peace, 30, 63 

Larceny, 166 
Law, 61, 161 
Legislative Department, of the State, 

54; of the United States, 90 
Libel, 166 
Lieutenant-General, 53 

Marriage, 138 

Master and Servant, responsibility 

in criminal cases, 141 
Mayor, 43 
Mortgages, 109 
Mutual Agreements, 118 

Natural Rights, of citizens, 103 

New States, 50 

New York City, Government of, 48 

Oath of Office, 82 
Office-Holders, 57 
Office-Seekers, 87 

Parent and Child, responsibility in 

criminal cases, 139 
Parties to a Contract, 118 
Partner, 145 
Patent, 107 
Perjury, 167 
Pleadings, 150 
Pleas in Abatement, 153 
Police, chief of, 44 
Popular Vote, The, 82 
Preamble, The, 68 
President, The, his powers, 81, 91; 

duties, 83; advisers, 84 
Principal and Agent, responsibility 

in criminal cases, 139 
Promissory Notes, 131 
Property, defined, 104; personal, 105; 

real, 105, 126 



Property Rights, 104 

Real Property, 105, 126 

Recorder of Deeds, 39 

Relationship, 113 

Representatives, 72 

Revenue, of a city, 45; in Congress, 91 

Right of Eminent Domain, 108 

Robbery, 166 

Ruie of Law, The, 152 

Salaries, of county officers, 40; of 
congressman, 71; of judges, 101 

Sale, 124 

Schools, 19, 47 

Secretary of State, 54 

Senate, The, 73 

Sheriff, The, 37 

Slander, 166 

"Special Acts," 56 

Special Agents, 143 

"Special Sessions" of the Legisla 
ture, 56 

State, The, 51, 61, 96 

Statutes, 62, 122 

Supreme Court, The, 99 

Surveyor, 39 

Taxes, 30 

Term of Office, of State officers, 57 ; 

of Congressmen, 71 
Terminating a Partnership, 146; an 

agency, 144 
Title to Land, 105 
Towns, 42 
Township, The, 25 
Trade, 124 
Treasurer, of a county, 37; of a town. 

44 
Trials, 149 

United States, The, legislative depart- 
ment, 68, 90; executive depart- 
ment, 81 

Verdict, The, 157 
Veto, The, 91 
Vice-President, The, 73 
Villages, 42 

Wills, 114 
Witnesses, 154 




w 

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W 
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o 






THE 

GOVERNMENT OF MISSOURI 

A STUDY OF THE COMMUNITY 
AND THE STATE 



FOREWORD 

The last five years have seen a remarkable change in the 
teaching of the subject of Civics. Under the old regime, 
instruction in Civil Government too often meant merely a 
detailed, and usually distasteful, study of the Constitution 
of the United States. It utterly failed to awaken the pupil 
to a consciousness of the great communal life going on all 
around him, and of which he was a part. And, whether 
the circumstance be considered fortunate or not, it is 
a fact that much, or all, of what the pupil thus learned, 
under even the best "drill-master," soon passed into 
forgetfulness. 

The new order demands that more attention shall be 
given to applied Civics; that the instruction shall be more 
concrete and vital; and that it shall lead the pupil to dis- 
cover that all ' 'visible government is but the dial-plate on 
which is registered the movement of the inside machinery 
driven by the heart-beat of the people themselves." 

Civics there must be; and government there must be; 
and law there must be, in any satisfactory text book on the 
subject, — and good, sound lessons, too, such as are found 
in this book. But the view is altered, the scope widened, 
and the purpose humanized, by trying to teach mankind 
how to become happier and healthier, and of greater bene- 
fit to society. 



CONTENTS 

Foreword 193 

I. A Sketch of the State 197 

Origin of the Name — Early Settlements — Boundaries of 
Missouri — Population — The Necessity of Government — 
Settlers Come Rapidly — As to Their Homes — Selecting a 
Home. (Suggestive Questions) 

II. How Settlements Grow into a State 206 

Early Pioneer Life — The Counties and the State — Citi- 
zens Depend on Each Other — Changes in the State — A 
Further Example. (Suggestive Questions) 

III. Local Government 213 

Need of Cooperation — Forms of Government — How 
Administered — Civilization is Complex. (Suggestive Ques- 
tions) 

IV. The Schools of Missouri 217 

A Wonderful Record — Elementary Schools — The LTni- 
versity — Normal Schools — Other Institutions — Private 
Schools — "Pay" Schools — The Colleges. (Suggestive 
Questions) 

V. Public Roads 222 

Paths and Roads — The Ethics of Good Roads — School 
House a Social Center. (Suggestive Questions) 

VI. Pure Food 227 

Keys to Good Health — Pure Food Laws — Of Vital Impor- 
tance — Prevention is Better than Cure. (Suggestive 
Questions) 

VII. Elections and Officials 231 

Duties of a Citizen — Public Officials — A Broad View 
Necessary — Government Likened to a Tree — The Peo- 
ple Govern — Expense of Government. (Suggestive Ques- 
tions) 

VIII. An Abstract of the Constitution of Missouri 235 

Preamble — Boundaries — Bill of Rights — Distribution of 
Powers — Legislative Department — Executive Depart- 
ment — Judicial Department — Impeachments — Suffrage 
and Election — Counties, Cities, and Towns — Revenue 
and Taxation — Education — Corporations — Militia — 
Miscellaneous Provisions — Amending the Constitution 
(Suggestive Questions) 

IX. Important Dates and Events 241 

Governors of Missouri — United States Senators — Political 
and Judicial Information — Distinguished Missourians — 
Historical Incidents. 

195 



THE 
GOVERNMENT OF MISSOURI 

CHAPTER I 
A SKETCH OF THE STATE 

Origin of Name. Missouri, the name of the state and 
of the river which flows through it, is an Indian name 
which signifies the "big muddy/'" owing to the turbid 
appearance of the water in the river. One of the remark- 
able facts connected with natural objects in the various 
states of the union is that the Indians gave the names to 
nearly all of them, particularly to the streams, mountains 
and lakes, and it is through these that the names of the 
original inhabitants are preserved in our historical annals. 

A Part of the Louisiana Purchase. Missouri was the 
first state carved out of that large tract of land known 
as the Louisiana Purchase, ceded by France to the United 
States in 1803. This vast area of productive land was 
called Louisiana, and it included nearly all the coun- 
try lying west of the Mississippi river, east of the 
summit of the Rocky Mountains, and south of Canada. 
At the time of the cession of Louisiana to the LTnited 
States, the treaty then ratified contained the follow- 
ing provision: ''The inhabitants of the ceded territory 
shall be incorporated into the union of the Lmitecl 
States, and admitted as soon as possible, according to the 
principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment 
of all the rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of 

197 



198 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

the United States; and in the meantime they shall be 
maintained and protected in the full enjoyment of their 
liberty, property, and the religion which they profess.' 7 

Early Settlements. France had originally owned this 
territory by right of discovery and exploration, but in 
1762 ceded it to Spain, and the latter retroceded it to 
France in 1800. As soon as the French and Indian war 
terminated in 1763, the inhabitants from the mountain- 
ous regions of the Atlantic slope swept through the gaps 
of the mountains into the rich valleys of the Ohio and 
the Mississippi, and in many instances settling near the 
French villages in Indiana and in Illinois, and some of 
the more adventurous spirits came farther west across 
the Misssissippi, and became nominally citizens of Spain. 
During the Spanish rule of thirty-eight years, the terri- 
torial governors had entertained liberal views toward the 
newcomers and treated them with consideration. The 
people w r est of the mountains saw no outlet for their sur- 
plus products except down the Mississippi to the ocean. 
Spain held this outlet to the Gulf. The Americans looked 
eagerly forward to the time when they should control it. 

Prior to the American Revolution many of the 
early French settlers had left southern Illinois and come 
to St. Louis, and to other French settlements west of the 
Mississippi. They hated the English and preferred to 
live under Spanish rule owing to their religious opin- 
ions. Some also came from Canada to join their country- 
men along the west bank of the Mississippi. 

Boundaries of Missouri. l ' The eastern boundary begins 
at a point in the middle of the main channel of the Des 
Moines river, due east from an iron pillar on the west 
bank of said river (established on an ' Indian boundary 
line' run in 1816, and reestablished in 1850 as the north- 
ern boundary of Missouri) ; thence down the middle of the 



A SKETCH OF THE STATE 199 

main channel of said river to the Mississippi river ; thence 
due east to the middle of the main channel ; thence down 
said line in the Mississippi to the parallel of 36 degrees 
of north latitude. The southern boundary is co-incident 
with the parallel of 36 degrees of north latitude between 
the Mississippi and St. Francis rivers, and with the par- 
allel of 36 degrees 30 minutes of north latitude from the 
St. Francis river west, to the west line of the state. The 
western boundary begins in the middle of the main chan- 
nel of the Missouri river on parallel 40 degrees 34 min- 
utes 40 seconds, of north latitude ; thence down the mid- 
dle of the main channel to the mouth of the Kansas 
river; thence due south 177 miles, 4 chains and 83 links 
to the parallel of 36 degrees 30 minutes of north lati- 
tude. The northern boundary from the Missouri river 
east of the 'old northwest corner of the state' (prior to 
the Platte Purchase) is co-incident with the parallel of 
40 degrees, 34 minutes, 40 seconds north latitude, (the 
'old corner' was located in 1816 at a point 100 miles 
due north of the mouth of the Kansas river) ; thence east- 
wardly to the Des Moines river on a line surveyed in 
1816, said line marked by certain mile-posts and monu- 
ments re-located and reestablished by commissioners 
appointed by the U. S. Supreme Court in 1849." 

The width of the state between its two extreme points 
is about 350 miles ; its northern boundary about 210 
miles, and a direct line from the southwest corner to the 
Mississippi is about 280 miles, which is also the average 
length of the state from north to south. The area of the 
slate is 68,735 square miles. If the state were a square, 
it would be more than 263 miles in length on each side. 

Population. The population of the state, according to 
the Government census of 1910, was 3,293,335, being a 
mean of 48 persons to each square mile, were they equally 



200 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

distributed over the state. The state is subdivided into 
115 counties; the largest county, Texas, contains 1,159 
square miles, and Worth county with 265 square miles, 
is the smallest county. 

There are 62 cities and towns in the state having more 
than 2,500 inhabitants each, and there are 603 incor- 
porated towns and villages with less than 2,500 inhabi- 
tants each, and the total number of persons living in the 
665 cities, towns and villages constitute 53.4 per cent, of 
the entire population. 

The Necessity for Government. When the United 
States purchased Louisiana from France, the entire popu- 
lation, exclusive of Indians, was estimated at about 6,000. 
There had been a constant stream of immigrants into the 
district for more than twenty years from Canada, Illinois, 
Kentucky and Tennessee. The Kentuekians and Tennes- 
seeans settled chiefly at New Madrid and St. Genevieve, 
or on streams near by. 

A census taken in 1800 shows the entire population of 
what is now Missouri to be 6,028 persons, and four years 
later the population consisted of 9,200 white persons and 
1,300 negroes — mostly slaves. 

It is not too much to say that the settlers during the 
Spanish occupancy were honest, fairly industrious, con- 
tented and prosperous. The laws were few and simple, 
and w^ere very generally obeyed. The French settlers 
lived in villages along the streams upon the banks of 
which they built their houses, and their fields extended 
in narrow^ strips back some distance. The Americans, 
however, did not live in villages, but each built his cabin 
on a tract of land, and cleared his field for cultivation. 

For government purposes, immediately after the cession 
from France to the United States, Louisiana was divided 
into two parts. What is now the state of Louisiana was 



A SKETCH OF THE STATE OQI 

called the Territory of New Orleans, and all the other 
part was designated as the Territory of Louisiana, and 
attached to the Territory of Indiana, with General Wil- 
liam Henry Harrison as territorial governor. 

The people living in what was later to become the state 
of Missouri, objected strenuously to being attached to the 
Territory of Indiana, and drew up a remonstrance which 
they forwarded to Congress. This petition was signed by 
fifteen citizens, eight of whom were French. The peti- 
tioners asked that they be organized as a territory of the 
second class. The result of this agitation was the organi- 
zation of a territory of the lowest rank. Under this form 
of territorial government a governor and three judges, 
appointed by the President, were to make the laws for 
the government of the territory. 

During the Spanish rule extensive land grants had 
been made to various individuals and many of these 
grants were not specifically expressed by metes and 
bounds. So. when settlers came into the territory and 
looked up good locations and settled on them, many 
titles were brought into controversy. Litigation fol- 
lowed, and sometimes adverse claimants defended their 
titles by force of arms. Matters went on thus till 1812, 
when Congress enacted a law confirming to the inhab- 
itants of the villages the lands they had occupied under 
Spanish and French domination. In 1812 the Territory of 
Missouri was organized, with William Clark as governor. 

Settlers Come Rapidly. The people now poured into 
the territory rapidly, and four years later it became a 
territory of the first class. Under this act a governor 
was appointed by the President, and the people were 
authorized to elect a li-Liislative council and a house of 
representatives. There were now live counties in the ter- 
ritory : St. Charles, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape 



202 THE JOESIKABLE CITIZEN 

Girardeau, and New Madrid. The population of the ter- 
ritory in 1810 was about 22,000, and in 1820 it was 66,000 ; 
perhaps 10,000 of these were negroes. 

St. Louis was the territorial capital, and there the laws 
were enacted and the governor and territorial officers 
resided. A delegate was also elected to congress. Thus 
matters stood till the admission of the territory as a 
state, August 10, 1821. With the admission of Missouri 
as a state into the union, the people elected their own 
officers, enacted, through their representatives when duly 
assembled, their own laws, and planned out state policies 
along broad lines. Some of these we shall now endeavor 
to trace briefly. 

As to Their Homes. Let it be understood at the begin- 
ning, that the early settlers in Missouri were a home- 
loving, law-abiding, free, independent, industrious class 
of men and women, and many of them were earnest Chris- 
tians. They were as self-reliant as they were free and 
independent. Their hardships and joys were not unlike 
those of the first settlers of the older states, except that 
troubles with the Indians were fewer than in most of the 
other states. 

In order to be a state, there must be families living in 
homes, and it is much better if each family has a home 
of its own, free and unemcumbered by debt. A state 
is a definite tract of land occupied by people who are sub- 
ject to the same general laws, and owe allegiance to the 
government under which they live. 

Missouri, like all other states, is sub-divided into coun- 
ties, the counties into townships, the townships into sec- 
tions of land, these are still further sub-divided; and in 
cities, towns, and villages, the sub-divisions are still more 
minute — into additions, blocks and lots. Again, the 
counties are grouped into state senatorial districts, con- 



A SKETCH OF THE STATE 203 

gressional districts for the purpose of electing congress- 
men to the House of Representatives at Washington, and 
large cities may also be divided into congressional dis- 
tricts, as in St. Louis. Other divisions are made for 
judicial purposes. The state is divided into judicial cir- 
cuits over which a circuit judge presides, and this state 
is divided into three appellate court districts which were 
created to relieve the supreme court of some of its 
business. 

Selecting a Home. A new settler in going into a coun- 
try where land is cheap would naturally look for good 
soil, a high, dry and healthy location, upon which to 
build his house and stable; an abundance of timber for 
fencing and fire wood and building purposes near by, and 
good and sufficient drinking water, and if there was 
building stone on his claim, so much the better. He 
wanted to live for the time being where game and fish 
were in abundance, and could be easily caught or cap- 
tured. The houses were in the beginning built near 
streams or springs, and in the woods. The early settlers 
in the prairie states avoided at first building out on the 
prairie. They preferred to build in the timber and to 
clear the land of trees and shrubs. Some of the " cabins " 
were later supplanted by "hewed" log-houses, and these, 
in turn by brick, stone, and frame houses, such as one sees 
at present. 

These newcomers brought from their former homes 
peach, apple, cherry, and sometimes pear seeds to plant, 
in order to have in a few years fruit of their own. It 
was in this manner that nearly all the early orchards in 
Missouri were started. Life was exceedingly primitive, 
and those settlers endured many hardships unknown to 
the young people of the present ; yet they were a fairly 
well contented and happy people. 



204 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

In the course of time, as the population increased, a 
general movement took place in fencing land for cultiva- 
tion. On the timbered land the trees had to be cut down, 
piled into log-heaps and burned, before it could be plowed 
with a "shovel plow." By degrees, men found that the 
prairie sod could be turned under once, when it rotted, 
and the ground brought into cultivation with much less 
labor than the "stumpy land," and it produced as good 
crops. "With this experience, men began to make their 
homes on the prairie land, and haul their rails from the 
timber to fence their farms. Of course in those sections 
of the state where all the land was covered with trees, the 
home-makers had to continue to clear the land and bring 
it into cultivation. 

These processes have continued until the present among 
the people, in making their own dwellings. In those early 
days there ivere only a few groups of settlements, but 
they multiplied rapidly. A rich soil, noble rivers, heavy 
forests, and unlimited mineral resources, invited immi- 
grants who wanted homes of their own. As the years 
rolled by a strong, sturdy foreign element from Europe 
came into the state. All these people were home-builders. 
Cities, towns and villages sprang up, so that now there 
are at least 750,000 homes in which people live in Mis- 
souri, and a larger per cent, of the population live in their 
own homes, and have them paid for, than in any other 
state in the Union. It, however, is a long step from the 
log cabin to the magnificent city residence with all mod- 
ern conveniences. 

However, as great a difference is marked between the 
little log school house and the Soldan High School in 
St. Louis, or the Westport High School in Kansas City, 
as one sees in the dwellings. These simply register the 
standard of progress made within the memory of people 



A SKETCH OF THE STATE 205 

still living. All this progress could not have come about 
without producing great changes in all matters of a 
social, industrial and moral character. Man succeeds best 
when he lives under laws which secure personal and 
property rights and guarantee free religious worship. 
Those who came here in the early history of the state 
had the same essential wants as have the people of the 
present, but they lived simply and had not so many arti- 
ficial wants to supply. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

1. Mention some of the local objects in Missouri that bear In- 
dian names; three that are of French origin; two of German. 

2. What states are included in the Louisiana Purchase? What 
was the provision in the treaty in reference to the religious 
opinions of the French inhabitants residing in the territory ceded 
by France to the United States. 

3. By what classes of people were St. Louis, St. Charles, and 
Ste. Genevieve settled? 

4. Bound Missouri. Describe the Platte Purchase. What per 
cent, of the people of Missouri live under some form of municipal 
government? 

5. Give three reasons for the necessity of government. By 
what authority is a national census taken? How often? 

6. Tell how disputes about "land claims" occurred? 

7. What do you understand by home-building and home-makers? 
What things would guide one in selecting a new home? Give at 
least four reasons. How did the early settlers bring their farms 
into cultivation? What is the difference between a "shovel plow" 
and a ' ' gang plow. ' ' 

8. What do you understand by living under law? What do you 
understand by desire, want, wages, wealth, food, clothing, shelter? 



CHAPTER II 

HOW SETTLEMENTS GKOW INTO A STATE 

Early Pioneer Life People now can move from one 
state to another in a few hours, or at most in a few days. 
Before the era of railroad communication, travel was 
both slow and tedious, and was performed in rugged 
regions on foot, or with a pack-horse, and later roads 
were blazed out by marking trees, and horses and teams 
were used. Along the navigable rivers, canoes and flat- 
boats were used whenever practicable. When the gold 
excitement broke out in California just after the close 
of the Mexican war, it took the gold seekers six months 
to go from Illinois or Missouri to the Pacific Coast, and 
now the journey is pleasantly made in three days and 
nights, which simply means that the mode of travel is 
sixty times more rapid now than it was then. It was by 
those slow and tedious methods of travel that all the early 
settlers came to Missouri. From the settlements, at first 
far apart, the people spread over the entire state in 
search of homes, or good soil upon which to make 
their homes, and this influx of people still continues. Yet 
there are those who moved elsewhere from this state in 
the hope of bettering themselves financially. As the 
population increased new counties were organized, county 
seats were located for the purpose of having a place to 
transact the county business, county buildings were 
erected, school houses and churches were built, and the 

206 



HOW SETTLEMENTS GROW INTO A STATE 207 

people provided themselves with more useful and com- 
fortable things than was possible under former conditions. 

While the farmers and hunters constituted the most 
numerous class of citizens, millers, blacksmiths, gun- 
smiths, doctors, and preachers were also in demand. 
The old horse-mill and the water-mill were both neces- 
sary for grinding wheat and corn. The Americans have 
always been great bread and meat eaters. The black- 
smith was a most useful member of each neighborhood, 
or perhaps of several neighborhoods, and he often shod 
horses, 4t upset axes," made wagons and plows, and some 
of them could make a good rifle. His trade embraced about 
all the iron and steel work the farmers wanted. Some- 
times the blacksmith's shop was at the mill, and perhaps 
a little grocery store was kept there to. 

The country doctor traveled for miles and miles to visit 
and minister to the sick. In most new r counties in the fall 
season fevers were prevalent, and not infrequently the 
doctor would ride across the country from twenty to 
thirty miles to see his patients. Little by little these 
things have changed, and they can never be repeated 
again, owing to our rapid methods of travel and com- 
munication by mail, telegraph, telephone, public high- 
ways, railroad and trolley line facilities. But it is well 
for us to keep pictures in our minds of how our fore- 
fathers made it possible for us to enjoy all the comforts 
that we now have. 

"With the little village as a beginning, it grew into a 
town, and perhaps into a city, representing all the occu- 
pations that we now see men and women engaged in. 
Every trade and occupation has its history which is well 
worth learning. 

The Counties and the State. The counties of the state 
were at first few and large. When a few settlements had 



208 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

been formed, and the people thought they had sufficient 
population to organize a county, they would manage to 
get a bill through the legislature authorizing the forma- 
tion of a new county. Therefore each county of the state 
has its own history which is a distinct chapter of the 
state history, as is the history of the different families in 
each county. After a county was organized, it was sub- 
divided into municipal townships for voting and other 
purposes. 

A state is a creation of our National Government, but 
because of this fact, the state does not cease to grow and 
expand, not in area, but in all the different pursuits that 
men and women follow. By the Constitution of the 
United States, each state is entitled to one representative 
and to two United States senators. As each state in- 
creases in population, its representatives increase accord- 
ing to a ratio based on the census returns. Hence, it is 
that a state is divided into congressional districts which 
are fixed every ten years. 

The following table shows the growth of the state for 
a period of a hundred and ten years : 

1800 10,320 

1810 66,000 

1850 682,000 

1860 1,182,000 

1870 1,719,000 

1880 2,168,380 

1890 2,619,184 

1900 3,106 ; 665 

1910 3,293,335 

These figures indicate the growth in population of the 
state, but they fail to show how many people moved from 
the state each decade to other states and territories. The 
wealth of the state has correspondingly increased in every 
respect. 



HOW SETTLEMENTS GEOW INTO A STATE 209 

The chief occupations in which the people are engaged 
are agriculture, manufactures, commerce, mining, and 
many other important and profitable industries. Pri- 
marily the settlers have created every institution that we 
have in Missouri — the homes, the churches, the schools, 
civil society, the counties, the townships, the villages, 
towns, cities, courts, highways, bridges, and all the dif- 
ferent forms of state and municipal government under 
which we live. The neighborhoods, the townships, the 
counties are like the state in the miniature. 

Citizens Depend on Each Other. The state is the com- 
munity at large, embracing many and diverse interests. 
It is quite probable that should all the wheels of indus- 
try and commerce cease to turn for one year, and the 
earth refuse to yield her increase, that the people of Mis- 
souri, unless they could secure assistance from the outside 
world, would perish. This simply shows how dependent 
we are on each other, and that a large part of mankind 
must be engaged in preparing food and clothing for all, 
and that another large class is engaged in bringing the 
raw products to the manufacturers, and these in turn 
prepare them for the consumers, many of whom must 
always buy in small quantities. Out of these and other 
relations spring rights and duties which we commonly 
speak of as the intangible, practical relations between 
man and man, and the government under which he lives. 
The rights of men are those of liberty, personal safety, and 
security in the possession of property. Law should be 
justice and good sense put into writing and then printed, 
and the citizen who has committed no offense should be 
permitted to enjoy the fruits of his own labor and do 
his duty to the community in which he lives, and per- 
form cheerfully all his duties both public and private. 
This is an abstract statement of some great truths. But 



210 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

not everyone is inclined or even willing to live up to the 
high principles just enunciated. There have always been 
persons who wanted more than rightfully belonged to 
them, and laws have been enacted to restrain them. From 
territorial days, lawsuits have been common not only in 
Missouri, but in all the other states of the Union. A col- 
lection of all the general and special laws that have been 
passed in Missouri, city charters and ordinances, the 
supreme and appellate court reports, would form a large 
library, and yet these are silent witnesses as well as rec- 
ords that prove incontestably that some people will not 
do the right thing, unless they are forced to do so by the 
authority of the state. 

Changes in the State. The general surface of the state 
has changed but little in historic times. The rivers, hills, 
and valleys remain the same, except as man has slightly 
modified them. Many of the streams have partially filled 
up, the hills have worn down, the forests cleared away, 
and the open prairie has been fenced and placed in culti- 
vation, and farm houses dot woodland and prairie, and 
cities, towns and villages number into the thousands. 
School houses of numerous grades are seen everywhere, 
and a million of children attend these different kinds of 
schools each year. Great crops of grain, grasses, vege- 
tables and fruits are raised every twelve months. An 
average Missouri corn crop would make 6.250.000 wagon 
loads of corn, averaging 40 bushels to the load. Could 
this pile of corn be loaded into w r agons, allowing each 
wagon and team 40 feet, and each team started on a 
straight road as soon as it was loaded, it would make a 
line of wagons more than 47,000 miles in length. At the 
equator such a line would lack 3.000 miles of encircling 
the earth twice. But astounding as this fact appears, the 
other farm, truck-garden and orchard products would 



HOW SETTLEMENTS GKOW INTO A STATE 211 

doubtless 1111 as many more wagons, not to mention the 
manufactured commodities, which amount in the aggre- 
gate to several hundred million dollars annually. Tra- 
versing the state in every direction are great systems of 
railroads reaching every section, and affording a ready 
market for all the commodities the producers or manu- 
facturers have for sale. 

A Further Example. Were all the miles of railroad in 
the state built around its entire boundary, they would 
encircle the state six times. Therefore, the relations that 
exist among the people that live in the country and those 
that live in the cities, towns and villages are intimate 
and dependent. Social, business, and kindred ties bind 
the citizens closely together. The city and town people 
depend upon the country people, and likewise the coun- 
try people are as dependent on the other class. They are 
forced to unite and work for common interests. The 
aim in many localities-is to bring as many of the advan- 
tages of town and city life to the rural population, as 
there is also a tendency to bring much of the best of the 
country life, with its freedom and independence, into 
urban life. The rural delivery of the mails, the rural 
telephone systems, the trolley lines, the wind mills for 
supplying the houses with water for cooking, drinking 
and bathing purposes, have accomplished wonders in ren- 
dering country life more pleasurable and freer from 
drudgery. As marvelous as the development of the state 
has been in the past, no one can forecast the future. This 
state can well sustain a population of 40.000.000 con- 
tented, industrious and happy people, and then it would 
have only about 550 to each square mile, being much less 
densely populated than Belgium is at present. Let us 
stop here and think about this. 



gl2 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

1. Tell what you understand by the growth of a human being. 
How does the growth of a neighborhood agree with that of a 
county? 

2. Give some account of how people who lived on the Atlantic 
Slope a hundred years ago, could move to Missouri. 

3. How did the early country doctor's practice differ from that 
of the city doctor's practice to-day? In the early history of Mis- 
souri, when and how were religious services usually conducted? 

4. Who surveyed the land in Missouri? 

5. If you were to go into a lawyer's office, what kind of books 
do you think you would see there? Give a reason for your answer. 

6. In what respects has the state changed since being perman- 
ently inhabited by white men? 

7. What reasons can you assign for the disappearance of the 
wild game? 

8. What are the chief industries in your neighborhood in which 
the people are engaged? 

9. What do you think a government should do to protect the 
health of its people? 

10. Should the person or corporation be responsible for every ac- 
cident that happens to an employee during his term of service, or 
only when he is at work for the firm? Why? 



CHAPTER III 
LOCAL GOVEKNMENT 

Need of Cooperation. Government of the first and 
simplest kind begins in the home where the father is the 
head of the household, ably seconded by his wife. Did 
the family live in isolation, as Robinson Crusoe is de- 
scribed as living for years on a lonely island, then the 
law of the household would be adequate for all emer- 
gencies, but it has been found necessary whenever people 
live together as a community, that laws of some kind for 
their control must be enacted and enforced. Men, too, 
must act together in order to achieve any large results 
of whatsoever kind. Matters of public concern in civi- 
lized communities occupy much of their attention. Under 
our theory of governmental control, each one is presumed 
to conduct his own private affairs as he wishes, provided 
he does not infringe upon the rights of others, or do some 
act against public policy. 

Forms of Government. A citizen of Missouri, if he 
lives in the country, is living under the following local 
forms of government: that of the school district, the 
township, the county, the government of the state, and 
c r <lso under the most general form of government in this 
country — that of the United States. In addition to these, 
he may be a member of some church organization, or of 
some benevolent or social organization. Upon the other 
hand, should he reside in a city, or a town, he is still 
under another form, known as municipal government. 

How Administered. All kinds of political government 
are administered by officers elected or appointed to fill 

213 



214: TilJ ^ DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

certain public positions, and to perform certain specific 
duties. The duties of officers are prescribed by law, and 
they are expected to act strictly within the scope of their 
authority. 

The county is the largest of the strictly local divisions, 
and the county officers have jurisdiction throughout their 
respective counties. The official place of county business 
is usually at the county seat. The county occupies a 
position midway, as it were, between the townships which 
compose it and the state government at Jefferson City. 
The county collectors collect taxes for the state and pay 
the same to the state treasurer. At the county seat all 
the records of the county are kept. The county officers 
usually are the county court, composed of three county 
judges, a county clerk, probate judge, circuit clerk, and 
recorder of deeds, county surveyor, public administrator, 
sheriff, prosecuting attorney, assessor, coroner, treasurer, 
and county superintendent of public schools. These offi- 
cers are elected at a general election held in each county. 
The townships elect the justices of peace and constables. 

The duties of the county officials are all prescribed by 
statute law. Should the county judges refuse to make 
the tax levy for the county, no taxes could be collected. 
The judges manage all the county business, and have a 
general supervision over all the other county officers. 
The sheriff is the chief executive officer of the county. 

Whenever a reader of this book goes to the county seat, 
it will be time well spent to go into the court house and 
look around. Eead the signs on the doors, and learn 
something of the duties that each officer performs. Make 
a visit when the county court is in session. Walk into 
the room quietly, take off your hat, and watch what is 
going on. Should the circuit court be in session, go in 
and observe the procedure there. 



HOW SETTLEMENTS GROW INTO A STATE 215 

The reader ought to keep in mind that all the legal 
transactions in which the county is interested, must be 
recorded; all instruments, such as deeds, mortgages, 
court documents, marriage records, licenses issued by the 
county court, bonds given by county officials for the 
faithful performance of their duties, must be made a 
matter of record. The county judges make the order for 
holding general or special elections, appoint judges and 
clerks, and name the voting places and direct the clerk 
to prepare the poll-books. The Constitution of the State 
of Missouri prescribes the qualifications of voters as to 
age, residence, and citizenship. 

Besides this brief enumeration of the duties of officers in 
local matters, there are corresponding duties devolving on 
the citizens. They are expected to be industrious, prompt 
in the discharge of their duties and obligations to indi- 
viduals, to the township, county, state and nation. 

Civilization is Complex. All the people have to live, 
and all ought to be able to make a living. The farmers, 
gardeners, fruit growers, and such as make their living 
by cultivating the soil, or stock-raising and other occupa- 
tions, come at first hand in direct contact with nature, and 
literally they, as well as those who work in mines, obtain 
their living from original and primary sources. Those 
who do not thus come in contact with the natural prod- 
ucts of the earth, whether vegetable, animal, or mineral, 
obtain their living from men. Without tracing these rela- 
tions further, it is evident that in buying, selling, and the 
numerous dealings that men have with one another, very 
many of these transactions must be regulated by law. And 
this is actually the case. Business and other interests are 
so interlaced and these ramifications are so numerous, that 
in order to protect the citizens in their legitimate duties 



216 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

as well as in their health and property, regulation by law 
is a necessary adjunct under our modern civilization. 

The people living in the large cities of the state provide 
for many officials that are not needed in the county dis- 
tricts, or if needed, their duties are partially performed 
by other officials when emergencies arise. The cities have 
a police department, fire department, a board of health, 
food inspector, an inspector of buildings, the commissioner 
of streets and alleys, an inspector of weights and meas- 
ures, a city engineer who establishes and locates, under the 
direction of the city council, the sewer system, the grades 
of streets and alleys, and performs such other duties as 
may be directed. 

One point will be sufficient to illustrate, in part, the 
great difference between country life and city life. If a 
person wants to build a house in a city he must procure 
a permit from the Inspector of Buildings, and within 
certain limits in the city, the buildings must conform to 
prescribed conditions, while in the country the farmer 
builds his house or barn when and how he chooses, so 
he builds on his own land. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

1. What is meant by Local Government? 

2. What do you understand by "children's running loose"? 
Name all the county officers in your county, and tell in single sen- 
tences some function each performs. Are there any state officers in 
your county? Name the offices they fill. 

3. Who is the governor of your state? The mayor of your 
county seat? 

4. What is the officer called whose duty it is to prevent stock 
from running at large? 

5. What advantages do country boys and girls have over city 
boys and girls, and what advantages do city children have over 
country children? Which are the hardier and better workers? 
Why? 






CHAPTER IV 

THE SCHOOLS OF MISSOURI 

A Wonderful Record. Missouri has always fostered 
education, though in the beginning the first schools were 
those taught by priests and itinerant pedagogues who 
had wandered into the new territory. From this crude 
beginning a great school system has grown up, till now 
there are 10,082 school districts in the state, more than 
a million of children of school age; upwards of thirty 
thousand school directors, four hundred and thirty 
public high schools, with almost forty thousand high 
school pupils enrolled in them. In the elementary schools 
the number of children attending is about four-fifths of 
a million, and the annual expenditure $14,000,000, which 
is increasing every year. The total school fund is now 
nearly $15,000,000, and it is being added to from various 
sources each year. With the exception of Minnesota, Mis- 
souri has the largest available school fund of any state 
in the Union. 

The schools of the state are spoken of as a system em- 
bracing the elementary schools, the high schools, the state 
normal schools, the state university, including the school 
of mines. There are also schools for the blind, deaf and 
dumb, industrial reform schools for boys and girls, and 
a school for the feeble-minded. 

Elementary Schools. The elementary schools are di- 
vided into two classes, the country schools, and the city, 
town, and village schools. The country school has three 
directors, the city and town schools usually six, accord- 

217 



218 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

ing to their plan of organization. The work in the ele 
mentary rural schools is so planned, in prepared courses 
of study by the State Superintendent, that it is prac- 
tically uniform in all the counties. There are wide dif- 
ferences in the graded schools, particularly in the high 
school courses which rest with the boards of education. 
As a general thing, the cities and larger towns have es- 
tablished and maintained good high school courses of 
study which fit their graduates for admission to the fresh- 
man classes in the colleges of the state, and for the state 
university. Some of the smaller towns and villages have 
usually only a two- or three-year high school course. 
But many of the high schools of the state offer several 
different courses of study to the pupils, each of which is 
designed to prepare for active life or for further work 
in higher institutions of learning. 

The University. The State University was founded 
three-fourths of a century ago, eighteen years after the 
state had been admitted into the Union. It is at the head 
of the educational system of the state, and is located in 
Columbia, the county seat of Boone county. The institu- 
tion itself is a large number of buildings, erected on the 
University grounds, in which buildings various educa- 
tional activities are carried on in connection with 
academic, professional, and agricultural instruction. 

Normal Schools. Missouri has provided well for the 
training of her young men and young women for teach- 
ing in her public schools, by establishing a system of state 
normal schools, all offering substantial courses of study 
with professional training. The first for white teachers 
was established in 1871, at Kirksville, and the second at 
^Yarrensburg. Normal schools were established later at 
Cape Girardeau, Springfield and Maryville. Lincoln In- 



THE SCHOOLS OF MISSOURI 219 

stitute came into existence in 1866 as a private institution, 
but was turned over to the state in 1870. 

Other Institutions. The School of Mines and Metal- 
lurgy, a department of the State University, is located 
at Rolla, Phelps county, and was opened for the admission 
of pupils in 1871. 

Missouri takes good care of her defective classes. There 
are four hospitals for the insane, the first at Fulton, the 
second at St. Joseph, the third at Nevada, and the fourth 
at Farmington. 

The School for the Blind is located in St. Louis; for 
the Deaf in Fulton: the Reform School for Boys at Boon- 
ville, and the Reform School for Girls at Chillicothe. The 
feeble-minded are cared for at Marshall. The two reform 
schools are taking on the phases of industrial education, 
rather than of penal institutions. 

There are two Soldiers' Homes in the state, the Federal 
Soldiers' Home at St. James, and the Confederate Sol- 
diers' Home at Higginsville. Both are supported by the 
state of Missouri. 

Each state institution is controlled by a board of man- 
agers, nominated by the governor and confirmed by a 
majority vote of the state senate. 

Private Schools. As early as 1771, B. Tribeau was 
teaching school in St. Louis, and he taught there for forty 
years. He was probably the first teacher in the entire 
territory included now in the state. The early settlers 
from Kentucky and Virginia, as well as from Xew Eng- 
land, brought with them the idea of the academy, as also 
of the pay subscription school. These academies usually 
had a primary department and an academic department. 
Out of these have grown the colleges and many other 
institutions of learning in this state. 

Before the establishment of the present school system, 



220 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

which really dates from 1867, nearly every town of any 
size boasted of an academy or seminary of learning, and 
it was at these pay schools that a large number of the 
boys and girls obtained their education beyond the merest 
rudiments. More than a hundred of these little schools 
had been chartered in the state prior to the adoption of 
the present state constitution. Perhaps as great a num- 
ber worked without charters. 

"Pay" Schools. The subscription school came along 
with the academy, but not of it. The people in a neigh- 
borhood would talk about the education of their chil- 
dren, and then decide to build a school house at some 
accessible place that would be convenient for all. They 
would furnish the material, put up the house, build the 
chimney, make the benches, and then find a teacher who 
would agree to teach each pupil at so much a month. A 
contract was usually drawn up and signed by patrons 
and teacher. These voluntary school houses were built 
in the woods near a spring or good well, having plenty 
of timber nearby for fuel in cold weather. As a general 
rule, a man taught the school during the winter, and a 
woman in the spring or summer. These school houses 
were often used for religious services, voting places and 
other public gatherings. In these schools the branches 
usually studied were reading, spelling, writing, ciphering, 
geography, grammar, and reading of United States 
history. 

Occasionally, if the school was not crowded, a few 
pupils would study algebra and geometry, or a Latin 
grammar and reader. All the academies offered Latin 
and mathematics and physics and chemistry. In the 
older and wealthier sections of the state, painting, em- 
broidery and vocal and instrumental music were offered 
as incidental studies for girls and young women. 



THE SCHOOLS OF MISSOURI 221 

The Colleges. There are still many private schools in 
the state. The highest organization of these is the Col- 
lege Union, which formulated a plan of work among them- 
selves, with fixed standards by which they could measure 
their work. The object was to raise the standard of edu- 
cation in the state, unify the work and become better ac- 
quainted with one another. Space forbids any extended 
notice of this movement. Enough to say. that in connec- 
tion with the higher state institutions of learning, the 
Union includes the first-class colleges of the state. 

There is as great a work for the colleges of Missouri to 
do in the future as they have done in the past. Many 
parents prefer to send their sons and daughters to col- 
lege where they will not be lost in the multitude, and be 
handed OA~er to callow tutors as instructors. This senti- 
ment is growing rather than diminishing in the public 
mind. There is enough for all the public and private 
schools to do, and yet a large majority of the people of 
the state will only be partially educated. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

1. Tell how a public elementary school house is built, and how 
it is paid for. 

2. What studies must a pupil complete to be admitted to high 
school ? 

3. How old must a child be to be enrolled in a public school? 

4. What do you understand by a Teacher's Certificate? By 
whom is it issued? 

5. How is a lawyer licensed to practice? A physician? Is 
a County Judge examined on county business before or after his 
election? Why? 

6. Do you know of any private school in your county? Where? 

7. Tell where the following colleges are located: William 
Jewell, Central, Tarkio, Westminster, Park College, Drury, Mis- 
souri Valley, Washington University, Central Wesleyan College, 
St. Louis University. 



CHAPTER V 

PUBLIC EOADS 

Paths and Roads. The Indians and the buffaloes were, 
before the white man, the first road makers in Missouri. 
The Indians had made trails from one part of the country 
to another, and it was along those paths that they traveled. 
They remained intact till the white men settled the land 
and put it into cultivation, when many of the Indian 
trails were obliterated. The buffaloes were migratory 
animals, and they traveled frequently along paths, and 
thus cut narrow roads in the surface of the soil. Some 
of their paths may still be seen in the newer sections of 
the country, though these road-makers are almost extinct. 
The early explorers, trappers and hunters were often 
guided by these original engineers. The early settlers in 
a new country have to make their own paths and roads. 
Often they went into new territorj^ that had not been 
surveyed. About their homes they had made roads from 
the house to the field, or to other places more distant. 
They generally sought out the way that offered the least 
resistance. When the public land was surveyed and the 
settlers had purchased some of it, roads in due time were 
laid out along the section or half-mile lines. The roads 
at first in a new county are few in number, extending 
across it. Each family had some way of getting to a 
county road, which usually connected county seat with 
county seat. Wherever the land was not fenced, these 
county roads went in the shortest and best directions 
from point to point. Along the ridges and divides 

222 



PUBLIC EOADS 223 

in Missouri, the roads were beaten into well worn 
tracks. With the building of roads, came the bridg- 
ing of streams and the establishment of ferries at river 
crossings. All these things had to be worked out by the 
settlers of each new county. This work has gone steadily 
forward, till at this time there is a general movement 
throughout the United States for building good roads, 
so that the people at any season of the year can haul 
their produce to market, or travel with ease, safety and 
rapidity from one locality to another. Only a few citizens 
ride in public conveyances compared with those who walk 
and use teams on the public highways. The farmers, fruit- 
growers, and gardeners must haul their crops to market, 
and it is frequently said that the civilization of a state 
or locality is measured by the number and condition of 
its highways. This standard of measurement has an ele- 
ment of truth in it. A great deal has to be done in this 
country before road-beds are constructed that will stand 
the test of time, as the great highways built by the 
Romans have stood such test for two thousand years. 

The Ethics of Good Roads. To go from one place to 
.another, good roads and good streets are needed. Along 
all country roads shade trees and fruit trees ought to be 
planted, and stone posts or pillars should be erected at 
convenient public places, recounting some historical or 
other notable incident of that vicinity, or containing some 
motto that would impress itself on the minds of the young. 
There should be seats at convenient distances for travelers 
to sit on and rest when tired. Beautiful flower plots here 
and there would add a charm to the landscape. Not only 
should our roads be made beautiful, but our homes and 
school houses and grounds — all should be made and kept 
attractive. Children in the country like to walk along 
shady roads, look at beautiful and strange flowers, listen 



224 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

to the songs of the birds and watch the floating clouds, 
and gaze now and then into the far off sky. They like 
a variety of shade trees, too. They have their preferences 
among the trees, the flowers and the fruits. 

What has been briefly suggested means a great deal, 
but it is not an impossible undertaking. It means better 
roads and better road laws. It implies beauty and clean- 
liness, which are instrumental in preventing moral, men- 
tal and physical contamination. It means clean, pleasant 
and beautiful playgrounds for the children in the coun- 
try, and in the town, and in the city. Furthermore, it 
means that the children shall have room where they may 
play their outdoor games, and that each may have a small 
plot of ground upon which to plant seeds and shrubs 
and trees, and watch them grow. 

No clean animal likes to walk in the mud or live in 
the mud, much less a child. 

School House a Social Center. Each country school 
house should be located where two roads intersect, thus 
giving access to it from the four cardinal points of the 
compass. The site should contain from five to ten acres 
of beautiful ground, large enough for play grounds, shade, 
trees, flower beds, and experiment gardens to test farm- 
ing, fruit and gardening processes. It may be that in due 
time, shops will be erected and connected w r ith each school, 
in which our boys and girls will spend a portion of each 
day in work at handicrafts. 

The school house is a social center in which all the 
people have a common interest. At the school house lec- 
tures, social gatherings, and public questions, barring 
partisan, political, and religious matters, can be discussed. 
Through the instrumentality of good roads, all com- 
munity interests are more closely knit together and every 
public and private interest is better fostered. 



PUBLIC EOADS 225 

Improvements in road making ought to keep pace with 
other methods of communication, including the construc- 
tion of trolley lines, telephone lines, telegraph lines, and 
the rural delivery of mail matter. The farmer and his 
wife and children want to know what the world is doing 
from day to day as much as does the man of business in 
the town or city. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

1. How are the roads made and kept in repair where you live? 
For what part of the year are they impassable on account of mud 
and high water? 

2. How much did it cost to build the best bridge in your county, 
excluding railroad bridges? How far does the most distant tax 
payer in the county in which you live, have to travel to reach the 
county seat? 

3. Did you ever read the Koad Law of your state? Who made 
that law? 

4. Do you believe that lights should be kept burning along pub- 
lic roads in the country? What objection do you see to such a 
law? What advantages? 

5. If you were to drive a team along a public highway and you 
chanced to meet an automobile, which should have the right of 
way? Why? Who should cut the weeds along a public highway? 

6. How would you prevent, or seek to prevent, the washing of 
deep gullies on either side of a road? 

7. How can streets and back alleys be kept clean? If children 
make a ' l snow man ' ' on the school grounds, and a horse becomes 
frightened at it and runs away, and damages the rider, driver, or 
vehicle, who is responsible? Give two reasons. 

8. Draw a plat of a section of land, divide it into quarter sec- 
tions, and on the northwest forty locate a school site, containing 
ten acres in the northeast corner of this forty. If the site be 
square, how many feet around it? 

9. Can you describe legally the tract of land upon which you 
live? 

10. In what section, township, and range is the school house 
located at which you attend school? 



226 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

11. What is the difference between a township and a section 
line? 

12. Draw a diagram dividing a township into sections, and 
locate on the diagram the 6th, 13th, and 31st sections. 

13. If you should walk once around each section of land in a 
township, how many miles would you have walked, provided each 
section is a mile square? 



CHAPTER VI 
PUKE FOOD 

Keys to Good Health. There are three conditions to be 
satisfied, and without which no person can enjoy good 
health — pure food, uncontaminated air, and good drink- 
ing water. There are laws to punish persons who sell, 
or offer to sell, spoilt food of any kind. In the country 
nearly all the drinking water is obtained from wells, cis- 
terns and springs, and in the villages and smaller towns 
from w 7 ells and springs. One of the greatest problems 
that our large cities has to deal with is that of supply- 
ing the people with pure water for drinking and culinary 
purposes. The water that rises in our wells may be so 
contaminated with deleterious matter that its use is 
highly injurious to health. The wells at school houses 
and in other public places should be inspected frequently 
by some one capable of making an analysis of the water 
to determine whether it is .fit to drink. Usually water that 
stands in a well for a time and is not agitated ought not 
to be used. The school house well is frequently a breeder 
of some of the most dangerous fevers. If it is a cistern, 
it should be thoroughly cleaned each fall before school 
opens, and all sediment taken out of the bottom, and no 
water should run into it until the roof of the school house 
has been washed clean. No surface water should flow 
into it. If it be a living well, the water should flow into 
it down deep in the ground. If it is filled with water 
from near the surface, the chances are that it is mixed 
with impurities that are deleterious to health. Before 

227 



228 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

the country was thickly settled, the children often drank 
at the spring and from running streams and streamlets, 
without serious consequences following. Now there 
is so much refuse thrown on the ground and into 
the streams that deadly germs literally lurk in the water 
in many localities. The w r ater in many of the lakes and 
rivers is full of impurities. 

Should there be a suspicion that the drinking water 
is not pure, as a preventive measure, it ought to be boiled. 
Jf the drinking water at school is not good, the children 
ought to take boiled water from home each day. 

Should the school authorities be indifferent, the chil- 
dren can express their opinions to their parents as to the 
unsanitary condition of the water in the well. It is a 
public matter that appeals to all parents and good citi- 
zens. Soap and water are great cleansers and purifiers. 
The body needs to be thoroughly bathed every day or two, 
and it should always be bathed in clean, pure water. 

A most delightful exercise is that of swimming, and 
there should be provided in every community a swimming 
pool in which all boys and girls should have the oppor- 
tunity to learn to swim. Swimming exercises all the 
muscles of the body. 

There is just as much need for pure water in the coun- 
try as in the city, and it is more vital, and it is oftener 
overlooked; but in all large cities the Board of Health 
keeps a watchful eye on the quality and quantity of 
drinking water. 

Pure-Food Law. The state and municipal governments 
have a general supervision of the health of the entire 
people. Impure food and poisoned water may produce 
epidemics that carry off hundreds and thousands annually. 
To reduce these evils to a minimum by a systematic 
method of protection, public officials are appointed to 



PURE FOOD 



229 



oversee and supervise all matters relating to public health. 
There are inspectors of food, of public and private build- 
ings, of public and private health, and of all sanitary 
matters generally. Garbage must be disposed of, premises 
kept clean, sidewalks and streets kept in good repair, 
drains and sewers kept open, nuisances abated. In short, 
the good citizen promptly removes everything from about 
his premises, or office, or place of business, that invites 
disease, or would contribute to its spread. 

Of Vital Importance. Our country needs strong, 
healthy boys and girls, because they make men and 
women able to do their share of the world's work. Pale, 
sickly children can neither study nor work. They lack 
the strength. They either do not have plain, nourishing 
food, or they sleep and live in rooms that are not properly 
ventilated. There are not many elegant private resi- 
dences that are properly ventilated, while provision for 
keeping them well heated is ample and adequate. Public 
buildings, such as court houses, jails, penitentiaries, 
churches, offices, theaters and hotels are, as a rule, poorly 
ventilated. The modern school houses throughout the 
country are the only public buildings that are ventilated. 
Churches, court-rooms, doctors' offices and prisons are 
the poorest ventilated, as a class, in this country. Pure 
air must be breathed to keep the blood in a healthy 
condition. 

Children, to be strong, robust and vigorous, must 
breathe pure air during the day, and at night in their 
bed rooms, and eat plain, nourishing food. Just to raise 
one window will not cause a current of air to flow through 
a room, unless there be another opening in the room. If 
there be two windows, one should be lowered from the 
top and the other raised from the bottom to allow a cross- 
current. 



230 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN! 

Prevention Is Better than Cure. The entire theory of 
sanitary regulation is based on the prevention of disease 
and the prolongation of human life. In every movement 
of this nature the object is to preserve the life and the 
health of all the people, by looking after the cleanliness 
of each individual in the family and of each family in 
the community. The custodians of public health should 
do their work to the utmost of their ability. The public 
conscience ought to be highly sensitive on all matters per- 
taining to the health, happiness and social betterment of 
the city or community in which people live. Poor per- 
formance of public service should never go unchallenged. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

1. What marketable products are produced by the farmers in or 
near the community where you live? What kinds of grain are 
used in this country as bread-stuff? Tell in a short essajr, what 
you understand by pure food. Can you name any varieties of 
wheat raised in the state in which you live? 

2. Should you go to a market, how would you determine whether 
the articles which you wanted to I)uy, were in proper condition 
for household use? What direction can you give for ventiliating 
an ordinary country school house? What element, or elements, 
renders air impure? If all material things be mineral, animal or 
vegetable, under which of these would you classify air? Water? 
Give three reasons for each answer. 

3. Give four reasons why all persons ought to eat wholesome 
food, breathe pure air, and drink potable water. 



CHAPTER VII 

ELECTIONS AND OFFICIALS 

Duties of a Citizen. A good citizen is one who performs 
all his duties both public and private in a highly accept- 
able manner. One of his public duties is to vote at elec- 
tions held in the township, ward or precinct in which he 
lives. Under the present constitution of Missouri every 
male citizen, (except those not naturalized, or having de- 
clared their intention to become citizens according to the 
laws of the United States), who is over the age of twenty- 
one years, possessing the following qualifications, shall 
be entitled to vote at all elections : 

First. He shall have resided in the state one year im- 
mediately preceding the election at which he offers to 
vote. 

Second. He shall have resided in the county, city, or 
town where he shall offer to vote at least sixty days im- 
mediately preceding the election. 

By reason of crime or other disabilities some persons 
are deprived of the privilege of voting. 

Public Officials. These persons are divided into two 
classes, Elective and Appointive. The American theory 
of government is that of a representative democracy, 
which is only another way of saying that a majority of 
the voters who vote at an election choose by ballot the 
officers who shall serve the community, county or state 
for a specified period. Persons thus elected are called 
public officials. There are other persons appointed to 
fill public positions and these are appointive officials. The 
original idea in the minds of the people was that public 
officials are the servants of the people, and that one per- 

231 



232 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

son could perform public duties as well as another. A 
new element is now at work overturning this view of the 
subject, in that public officials who prove skillful and 
efficient, are better qualified to transact public business 
than a bungler. The people are now more and more ask- 
ing themselves whether aspirants for political prefer- 
ment have sufficient knowledge to perform the duties 
pertaining to the positions they seek to fill. Public office 
is thus declared to be a public trust. 

A Broad View Necessary. In a broad way, the indi- 
vidual voter as a citizen must take a wider view of the 
subject of government than that lying within the range 
of the community life in which he lives. There are purely 
local matters pertaining to the welfare of the township, 
the city, town or village in which he lives that require 
unremitting attention. Rising one step higher is the 
governmental business of the county, which is the state 
unit. Everyone ought to be intelligent on the affairs of 
the county of which he is a citizen. The farming classes 
in Missouri are governed chiefly by the county officials. 
These come between the people and the state officials. 

Government Likened to a Tree. The state government 
is intermediate between the counties composing the state 
and the national government. We live under all these 
groups of governmental machinery, seldom stopping long 
enough to reflect upon them. Just as the union of the 
townships forms the county, the union of the counties 
forms the state; so the indissoluble union of the states 
forms the national or federal government. Wherever the 
national government in ordinary matters touches the 
people once, the state prescribes for them many times, 
and the municipalities literally determine their down- 
sittings and uprisings. The state outlines the broad and 
general policies for its citizens. These in general are 



ELECTIONS AND OFFICIALS 233 

designed to protect life, property, health, family rela- 
tions, the descent of property, control business matters, 
partnerships, the prevention and punishment of crimes, 
to secure, in connection with the United States, religious 
toleration, the organization of state banks, and many 
other public matters too numerous to be cited. The local 
governments, that is, the county and municipal govern- 
ments, derive all their authority from the state govern- 
ment. If the state government be considered as the trunk, 
the local governments are branches of that trunk. St. 
Louis, Kansas City, St. Joseph, and all the other cities, 
towns and villages in the state, are organized and 
operated under authority granted to them by acts of the 
legislature, as outlined in the state constitution. 

The People Govern. Notwithstanding all that has been 
said, the constitution of the state was framed by a con- 
vention of citizens who had been elected for that purpose 
at a special election, and they assembled at the state 
capital without taking an oath to obey the constitution of 
the state, but to support the constitution of the United 
States. They organized and formed into committees and 
went to work on a new constitution. When it was com- 
pleted, it was submitted to the voters, and a majority 
voted to adopt it ; hence all power resides in the people. 
The adoption of a state constitution is the most important 
legal question that can be passed upon by the electorate 
of a state. Not only do the voters elect their public 
officials, but in local matters they vote money for public 
improvements. The county judges may levy the state 
and county taxes, but if a public building is to be erected, 
or any kind of public improvement undertaken outside 
of ordinary repairs, the proposition must be submitted 
first to the qualified voters for their endorsement. This 



234: THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

is upon the theory that the people will pay for what they 
think they need. 

Expenses of Government. The different kinds of gov- 
ernment must be carried on by officials, and these in 
nearly all cases are paid salaries. The annual expenses 
necessary to transact the business of our nation is far 
in excess of the total expenditures of all the state govern- 
ments. Some have estimated it as being five or six times 
as great. The total municipal expense each year is also 
a vast sum, so large, indeed, that one can not think it in 
concrete form. These vast sums of money, whether for 
local, state or national purposes, must be raised by some 
form of taxation, either by a direct levy or indirectly. 
The local and state taxes are direct taxes levied on the 
property of the people owning the property in the state. 
There are other taxes, such as licenses and fees which 
persons engaged in certain occupations must pay to the 
municipality, county, state, or general government. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 

1. What is the rate of taxation levied in the county in which 
you live, for county and state purposes? If you live in an incor- 
porated city, what is the rate of. taxation levied by your city 
council, and what amount is appropriated to each department? 

2. Make a list of the county officials of your county, and state 
the salary of each. 

3. What is the "Blue-Book" of the state of Missouri, and of 
what does it treat? 

4. Can you explain how a city can add to its territory? 

5. When a person pays a town, county, or state tax, what 
should be received, and what does it state? Explain the duties of 
a Board of Equalization. 

6. What per cent, of the people own their homes in the com- 
munity in which you live? 

7. What is the difference between attending a primary and a 
county convention? What do you understand by a person's run- 
ning for office, and how does he run? What is the difference be- 
tween receiving a nomination and being elected? 



CHAPTER VIII 

AN ABSTRACT OF THE CONSTITUTION OF MISSOURI 

PREAMBLE 

1. We, the people of Missouri, with profound rev- 
erence for the Supreme Euler of the Universe, and grate- 
ful for His goodness, do, for the better government of 
the State, establish this Constitution. 

ARTICLE I. BOUNDARIES 

2. This article establishes and defines the boundaries 
of the state. 

ARTICLE II. BILL OF RIGHTS 

3. All political power is vested in the people ; the state 
has the sole right to regulate its own affairs, subject to 
the Constitution of the United States ; every man has the 
right to worship God according to the dictates of his own 
conscience; no person shall be compelled to support any 
religious creed; no public money shall be given to aid 
or support any church; all religious corporations shall 
be established in this state only for holding church prop- 
erty; the right of suffrage shall be free; the courts open 
to every person ; people shall be secure in their homes ; 
the process against persons guilty of felony shall be by 
indictment; no person guilty of treason shall work cor- 
ruption of blood ; freedom of speech and press is guaran- 
teed; no imprisonment except for the non-payment of 
fines and penalties for violation of law ; the right to bear 
arms in defense of home, person and property shall re- 
main inviolate ; no one shall carry concealed weapons ; 

235 



236 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

all public officers must attend to their duties ; private 
property can not be taken for public or private use with- 
out the owner's consent, and then in the manner pre- 
scribed by law; persons accused of crime have the right 
to appear in person, to have counsel, to demand the nature 
of the complaint, to meet witnesses face to face, to com- 
pel witnesses in defense, to a speedy trial before a jury; 
no person shall be compelled to testify against himself, 
to be tried twice for the same offense ; excessive bail, fines 
and punishments shall not be imposed ; the writ of habeas 
corpus shall not be suspended; the military authority 
shall always be subordinate to the civil power; trial by 
jury shall remain inviolate ; people have a right to as- 
semble and petition for a redress of grievances ; no person 
shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due 
process of law; slavery and involuntary servitude, unless 
as a punishment for crime, are forever prohibited; other 
rights not enumerated are retained by the people. 

ARTICLE III. THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS 

4. The powers of the state government are the Legis- 
lative, the Executive and the Judicial. 

ARTICLE IV. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT 

5. This department is composed of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, together styled "The General 
Assembly of Missouri.'' 

REPRESENTATION AND APPORTIONMENT 

6. State Senators are elected for four years ; there are 
34 senatorial districts in the state ; half the senators are 
elected every two years ; all the representatives are elected 
every two years; the state is divided into 143 represent- 
ative districts; no person can be a senator who is under 
thirty years of age ; a representative must have attained 



ABSTRACT OF CONSTITUTION OF MISSOURI 237 

the age of twenty-four; every senator and representative 
shall take an oath to support the Constitution of the 
United States, to support the Constitution of Missouri, 
to perforin the duties of his office, to refuse any money 
or gifts for the performance or non-performance of his 
official duties, except the compensation allowed by law ; 
the compensation allowed by law is five dollars a day for 
seventy days and one dollar a day for additional time, 
if the legislature is in session. 

7. Each house perfects its own organization and makes 
its own rules; is the sole judge of the qualifications of 
its own members, and imposes its own punishments. A 
majority of each house constitutes a quorum. The ses- 
sions of each house shall be held with open doors, except 
in secret session. Neither house shall adjourn for more 
than two days without the consent of the other. 

LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS 

8. The style of the Laws of the State shall be: "Be it 
enacted by the General Assembly of Missouri." 

Appropriations are made in the following order : In- 
terest on bonded debt, sinking fund, public schools, for 
the assessment and collection of the state revenue, pay- 
ment of the civil list, eleemosynary institutions, expenses 
of the General Assembly and other purposes. 

9. The credit of the state can not be lent to any indi- 
vidual or corporation, except in case of calamity; the 
assembly is prohibited from enacting any local or special 
law ; the assembly has no power to remove the seat of 
government. 

ARTICLE V. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 

10. The Executive Department consists of a Gover- 
nor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, State 
Auditor, State Treasurer, Attorney-General, and Superin- 



238 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

tendent of Public Schools. All must reside at Jefferson 
City except the Lieutenant-Governor. The Governor and 
Lieutenant-Governor must have been citizens of the 
United States for at least ten years before election, and 
seven years of Missouri, and at least thirty-five years old ; 
the other officers of the department must be at least 
twenty-five years old> and have been citizens of the state 
five years. 

ll.i The Governor shall enforce the laws; is com- 
mander in chief of the militia of the state, and may call 
them out to execute the laws, suppress insurrection and 
repel invasion; he is empowered to grant reprieves, com- 
mutations, pardons, and appoint state and county officers 
to fill temporary vacancies; communicate his views to the 
General Assembly ; issue proclamations ; sign or veto bills 
passed by the Legislature. 

12. The duties of the other members of the Executive 
Departments are described at length in the State 
Constitution. 

ARTICLE VI. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT 

13. The judicial power of the state, as to matters of 
law and equity, except otherwise provided, is vested in 
a Supreme Court, three courts of appeal, circuit courts, 
court of common pleas, probate courts, municipal courts, 
county courts, police courts, and justices' courts. 

14. The term of office of a judge of the Supreme 
Court is ten years. He must be thirty years old, and have 
been five years a citizen of the state. There are seven 
supreme judges. There are three courts of appeal in the 
state, each consists of three members, two of whom con- 
stitute a quorum ; the term of office is twelve years. 

15. The state is divided into thirty-six judicial circuits. 
A circuit judge must be at least thirty years old and a 



ABSTRACT OF CONSTITUTION OF MISSOURI 239 

citizen of the United States for five years, a voter in Mis- 
souri three years, and a resident of the circuit in which 
he is elected. The term of office is six years. The names 
of the other courts indicate the duties each performs. 
The salaries of judges are fixed by law. 

ARTICLE VII. IMPEACHMENTS 

16. All members of the executive department, judges 
of the supreme court, courts of appeal, circuit and crimi- 
nal courts, shall be liable to impeachment for high crimes 
and misdemeanors, and for misconduct, habits of drunk- 
enness, and oppression in office. The House of Repre- 
sentatives has the sole power to impeach, and the Senate 
to try the case. 

ARTICLE VIII. SUFFRAGE AND ELECTION 

17. This article relates to elections and voters, and 
the qualifications of voters. 

ARTICLE IX. COUNTIES, CITIES, AND TOWNS 

18. The counties are legal sub-divisions of the state. 
This article contains nineteen sections relating to the 
organization and government of counties, cities and 
towns. 

ARTICLE X. REVENUE AND TAXATION 

In twenty-one sections full and explicit directions are 
set forth in regard to levying, collecting and disbursing 
the taxes collected in the state for state, county, munici- 
pal and school purposes. 

ARTICLE XI. EDUCATION 

19. There are eleven sections in this article. Section 
1 reads as follows: "A general diffusion of knowledge 
and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the 



240 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

rights and liberties of the people, the General Assembly 
shall establish and maintain free public schools for the 
gratuitous instruction of all persons in this state between 
the ages of six and twenty years. " The other sections 
provide for carrying out the sentiments expressed in 
Section 1. 

ARTICLE XII. CORPORATIONS. 

20. This article deals with corporations in general, 
including railroads and banks. 

ARTICLE XIII. MILITIA 

21. All able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen 
and forty-five are subject to military duty, provided they 
are citizens of the United States. 

ARTICLE XIV. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

22. Among other things incorporated in this article 
are: No person shall be prosecuted for an act performed 
by him during the Civil War, if done by military orders ; 
persons that fight a duel or act as seconds are disquali- 
fied to hold office ; the legislature shall have no power to 
authorize lotteries to do business in the state; no officer's 
salary shall be increased during his term of office. 

ARTICLE XV. AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION 

23. Twenty different amendments to the constitu- 
tion have been adopted from 1884 to 1906. 

In 1906 an amendment was adopted allowing counties 
to vote a bonded debt for the purpose of building mac- 
adamized roads. 

Another important amendment authorizes cities of a 
certain class to amend their charters. 



CHAPTER IX 

IMPORTANT MEN, DATES. AND EVENTS 

GOVERNORS OF MISSOURI 

Territorial Governors 
William Henry Harrison, 1804-1805. 
James Wilkinson, 1805-1806. 
James Brown, acting governor. 1806-1807. 
Frederick Bates, acting governor. 1807. 
Meriwether Lewis, 1807-1809. 
Frederick Bates, acting governor. 1809-1810. 
Benjamin Howard, 1810-1812. 
Frederick Bates, acting governor. 1812-1813. 
William Clark. 1813-1820. 

State Governors 
Alexander McNair, 1820-182-1. 

Frederick Bates, 1821-1825. Died August 1, 1825. 

Abraham J. Williams. August to December, 1825 ; as 
president of the senate became governor. 

John Miller, 1826-1828. chosen at special election; 
1828-1832. 

Daniel Dunklin, 1832-1836. Resigned September 30, 
1836. 

L. W. Boggs. 1836-1840. Filled unexpired term and 
then was elected. 

Thomas Reynolds, 1840-1844. Died February 9, 1844. 

M. M. Marmaduke, February to November, 1844. Filled 
unexpired term. 

John C. Edwards. 1844-1848. 

241 



242 T I[E DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

Austin A. King, December, 1848, to January, 1853. 

Sterling Price, 1853-1857. 

Trusten Polk, 1857. Resigned February 9, 1857. 

Hancock Jackson, lieutenant-governor. 

Robert M. Stewart, 1857-1861. 

Claiborne T. Jackson, 1861. Superseded by Hamilton 
R. Gamble. 

Hamilton R. Gamble, provisional governor, 1861-1864. 

Willard P. Hall, 1864-1865 ; provisional governor after 
the death of Hamilton R. Gamble. 

Thomas C. Fletcher, 1865-1869. 

Joseph "W. McClurg, 1869-1871. 

B. Gratz Brown, 1871-1873. 

Silas Woodson, 1873-1875. 

Charles Hardin, 1875-1877. 

John S. Phelps, 1877-1881. 

Thomas T. Crittenden, 1881-1885. 

John S. Marmaduke, 1885-1887. Died December, 1887. 

A. P. Morehouse, 1888-1889. Lieutenant-governor, be- 
came governor. 

David R. Francis, 1889-1893. 

"William J. Stone, 1893-1897. 

Lon V. Stephens, 1897-1901. 

Alexander M. Dockery, 1901-1905. 

Joseph W. Folk, 1905-1909. 

Herbert S. Hadley, 1907—. 

United States Senators 

Missouri has had twenty-four different senators in the 
Senate of the United States. 

Thomas H. Benton, of St. Louis, served 30 years, from 
1821 to 1851 ; Francis M. Cockrell, from Warrensburg, 
served from 1875 to 1905 ; George G. Vest served from 
1879 to 1903; Lewis F. Linn served from 1833 to 1843. 



IMPOETAXT MEN, DATES, AND EVENTS 243 

James S. Green, Frank P. Blair, John B. Henderson, Carl 
Schurz and William Warner, were all very highly dis- 
tinguished citizens of the state. The present senators are 
"William J. Stone, elected in 1903, and James A. Keed, 
elected in 1910. 

Dr. Lewis F. Linn was undoubtedly the best beloved 
United States senator Missouri ever had. James S. Green, 
in the opinion of many, was the most critical constitu- 
tional lawyer; Carl Schurz was one of the most skillful 
and adroit orators that ever graced the United States 
Senate ; Senator Benton was one of the best informed 
men of that body. John B. Henderson was one of 
the ablest lawyers and one of the most studious 
men ever elected to the senate. Francis M. Cockrell was 
one of the most conscientious and painstaking men that 
ever sat in the senate chamber. Missouri since her admis- 
sion has always been ably represented in the United 
States senate. No other state can boast of an abler body 
of men in that most distinguished legislative body in 
the world. 

Some Political and Judicial Information 

1. The present constitution of Missouri was adopted 
by a vote of the people October 30, 1875, and went into 
operation November 30, 1875. It is the third constitution. 

It contains fifteen articles and two hundred and eighty- 
three sections. 

2. The state is divided into thirty-four state senatorial 
districts, six of which are in St. Louis. 

3. The state is divided into sixteen congressional dis- 
tricts. 

4. The number of judicial circuits in the state is 
thirty-six. 

5. The state legislature meets every two years. 



24i THE DESIKABLE CITIZEN 

6. The ablest body of men that ever assembled in a 
state convention to discuss great national issues were 
those who met in St. Louis in 1861 "to consider the rela- 
tions between the United States and the state of Mis- 
souri." Many persons think that Hon. Uriel Wright's 
speech, delivered during the first session of this conven- 
tion, is the most masterful legal argument ever made in 
this country, and that in cogency of reasoning and 
breadth of research, it is superior to Webster's reply to 
Hayne. 

Distinguished Missourians 

1. In March, 1764, Pierre Laclede Liguest and Colonel 
Augustus Chouteau laid out the first site of a town on the 
west bank of the Mississippi, and named it St. Louis. 

2. The first English speaking white man that settled 
in St. Louis was James Mackey, a Scotch surveyor, who 
came in 1776, and died there in 1821. 

3. Hudson E. Bridge manufactured the first stoves in 
Missouri in 1837. 

4. Joseph Robidoux was born in S*t. Louis in 1774, and, 
as an Indian trader, pitched his tent on the present site 
of St. Joseph in 1803. 

5. Moses D. Bates built the first house in Hannibal 
in 1817. 

6. Col. Thomas H. Benton was United States senator 
from Missouri from 1821 to 1851. 

7. Gen. U. S. Grant married Julia Dent, a native 
Missourian. 

8. Mrs. Mary S. Logan, wife of Gen. John A. Logan, 
was born at Petersburg, Boone county, Missouri. 

9. Gen. W. T. Sherman lived for many years after the 
Civil War in St. Louis, and is buried there. 

10. Gen. John C. Fremont ? s wife was Miss Jessie Ben- 
ton, daughter of Senator Benton. 



IMPORTANT MEN, DATES, AND EVENTS 245 

11. Gen. Sterling Price was the most distinguished and 
best beloved Confederate general from Missouri. His sol- 
diers called him "Pap Price ". 

12. Gen. Francis P. Blair, another civilian, was the 
most noted general on the Union side from Missouri. 

13. Lieutenant-Governor Henry C. Brockmeyer was 
one of the world's greatest thinkers. He lived many years 
in St. Louis and is buried there. 

14. Samuel L. Clemens, better known as "Mark 
Twain," the great American humorist, was born, Novem- 
ber 30, 1835, in Florida, Monroe county, Missouri. 

15. Eugene Field, author, poet and journalist, born 
in St. Louis in 1850. 

16. Gen. George C. Bingham, the great artist, lived in 
Kansas City and died there in 1879. One of his most 
famous paintings is "The Puzzled Witness." 

17. One of the most accurately learned men that ever 
lived in Missouri, was President Samuel S. Laws, 

18. William T. Harris, for seventeen years the United 
States commissioner of education and the most eminent 
educator America has yet produced, spent twenty-two 
years of his life in the St. Louis public schools, and eleven 
of these years as superintendent. 

19. Dr. Joseph Baldwin organized the first Normal 
School at Kirksville, Missouri, in August, 1867, and in 
1871 it became the First State Normal School. He was its 
president fourteen years, and he did more than any other 
man in Missouri from 1867 to 1884 to awaken public senti- 
ment in the state in favor of a splendid school system. 

20. Dr. George L. Osborne, for twenty-one years, was 
the successful president of the Second State Norma] 
School at Warrensburg. 

21. Edward B. Neeley was chosen superintendent of 



246 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

the St. Joseph city schools in 1864, and served in that 
capacity forty-three years, till his death. 

Historical Incidents of Missouri 

1. Missouri was originally a part of the Louisiana Pur- 
chase. The date of the contract of purchase was signed 
by the contracting parties May 2, 1803. On the 17th day 
of October following the treaty was ratified by the United 
States by a vote of twenty-four to seven. 

2. The first permanent settlement was made at Ste. 
Genevieve, located in "Big Common Field", probably 
about 1730. This village was about three miles below the 
present site of Ste. Genevieve. 

3. The first newspaper published west of the Missis- 
sippi river was "The Missouri Gazette", founded in 1808, 
and is now the St. Louis Kepublic. 

4. New Madrid was destroyed by an earthquake 
December 16, 1811. 

5. Territory of Louisiana was changed by an act of 
Congress to Territory of Missouri, January 4, 1812. 

6. Bank of St. Louis was incorporated in 1812. 

7. First brick house was built in St. Louis, 1813, by 
William C. Carr. 

8. In 1816 Missouri was organized as a territory of 
the highest class. 

9. The first steamboat to land at St. Louis was the 
"General Pike", in 1816. 

10. "The Independence" was the first steamboat to 
ascend the Missouri river. It went as far as Old Frank- 
lin, in Howard county. This w^as in 1819. 

11. Missouri was admitted to the Union as a state 
August 10, 1821. 

12. General Lafayette visited St. Louis in 1825. 



IMPORTANT MEX. DATES, AND EVENTS 247 

13. The fourth annual session of the Missouri legis- 
lature was the first to assemble at Jefferson City, in 1826. 

14. The first steamboat to make the trip from St. Louis 
to the headwaters of the Missouri was in 1831. 

15. The Asiatic cholera killed 400 people in St. Louis 
during the summer of 1832, and more than 100 died of 
the same disease in 1833. 

16. The state penitentiary was opened at Jefferson 
City in 1836, with one inmate. 

17. In 1836 a railroad was chartered from St. Louis 
tc Iron Mountain. 

18. In 1836 the Platte Purchase was concluded, and 
what are now Atchison, Andrew, Buchanan, Holt, Noda- 
way and Platte counties became a part of Missouri. 

19. November 17. 1837, the state house at Jefferson 
City burned with all the records in it. 

20. Col. Richard Gentry was killed in the Seminole 
war in Florida, December 1, 1837. 

21. The state university was located at Columbia in 
1839. 

22. There were great floods in the Mississippi and Mis- 
souri rivers in 1844. 

23. Regiments for the Mexican war were raised in 
Missouri in 1846, by Colonels A. W. Doniphan and Sterling 
Price. Colonel Doniphan's regiment made the longest 
march and endured the greatest hardships of any Ameri- 
can regiment ever mustered into service. 

24. A fire in St. Louis in 1849 destroyed over 400 build- 
ings. More than 4,000 died of cholera in St. Louis dur- 
ing this summer. 

25. The Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad and the St. 
Louis & Pacific Railroad under construction in 1853. 

26. The railroad bridge on the Gasconade river, be- 
tween St. Louis and Jefferson City, collapsed with a 



248 THE DESIRABLE CITIZEN 

heavy excursion train November 1, 1855 — more than 
thirty lives were lost, and upwards of seventy persons 
injured. 

27. Serious troubles over the slavery question began 
along part of the western border of Missouri and in the 
Kansas Territory, in 1858. 

28. The votes cast for president at the election held 
in November, 1860, were distributed as follows : Douglas, 
58,801; Bell, 58,372; Breckinridge, 31,317, and Lincoln, 
17.028. 

29. Civil war began in Missouri in May, 1861, and con- 
tinued four years. During this period all improvements 
and progress in the state were at a standstill. 

30. The "Drake Constitution" for the state of Mis- 
souri adopted June, 1865. 

31. The Test Oath went into operation under the new 
constitution at once. 

32. Foundation of the Eads bridge across the Mis- 
souri was laid in 1869. 

33. An act to establish normal schools in Missouri 
was passed in 1870. 

34. The present constitution of Missouri was adopted 
in 1875. 

35. The number of soldiers enlisted in the Union army 
from Missouri during the Civil War was 109,111 men, 
and the number that served in the Southern army was at 
least 50,000 men. As many men were in the two armies as 
voted at the presidential election in 1860. 

36. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition was held in 
St. Louis, 1904. 



MAR 13 1912 



